UC-NRLF 


B    M    DDfi    im 


REPORT 


ON 


WAR  CHEST 
PRACTICE 


1     ^ 


PRESENTED  TO 

CONNECTICUT  STATE  COUNCIL  OF  DEFENSE 

By  HENRY  M.  WRISTON 


REPORT 


ON 


WAR  CHEST 
PRACTICE 


PRESENTED   TO 
CONNECTICUT  STATE  COUNCIL  OF  DEFENSE 

By  HENRY  M.  WRISTON 

n 


FOREWORD. 

The  following  report  on  the  subject  of  war  chest  practice 
is  the  result  of  long  interest  and  study  and  of  something  over 
two  months  exclusive  application  to  the  problem.  The  subject, 
however,  is  so  large  that  even  that  amount  of  time  has  meant 
that  the  work  has  been  done  under  great  pressure  and  in  haste. 
It  would  have  been  impossible  but  for  the  helpful  and  courteous 
cooperation  of  a  number  of  people.  It  was  the  intention  to 
acknowledge  their  help  by  name  but  the  list  has  grown  so  long 
that  none  could  be  mentioned  without  distinctions  that  would  be 
unfortunate.  The  writer  wishes  therefore  to  make,  at  once, 
acknowledgment  to  the  officials  of  a  large  number  of  war  chests, 
to  the  officers  of  the  Fosdick  Commission,  the  Red  Cross,  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  War  Camp  Community  Service,  and  to  many 
others  who  have  given  a  great  deal  of  assistance. 

Under  the  circumstances  of  its  preparation,  this  report  un- 
questionably has  many  mistakes  and  many  more  failures  prop- 
erly to  evaluate  individual  features  adopted  by  various  cities. 
It  is  hoped,  however,  that  the  broad  lines  of  war  chest  practice 
are  accurately  drawn  and  that  the  conclusions  are  not  without 
some  warrant  in  the  evidence  collected. 

For  purposes  of  uniformity  the  city  or  town  name  has  been 
used  almost  invariably  rather  than  the  name  of  the  county, 
because  it  is  more  readily  located  in  that  way  by  most  readers. 


n  /^ 


NOTE. 

Since  the  type  was  cast  for  this  report,  material  changes 
have  taken  place  in  the  situation.  The  investigation  upon  which 
this  was  built  was  devoted  almost  as  much  to  finding  ways  of 
relief  for  communities  through  other  methods  as  to  the  study  of 
the  War  Chest  movement,  and  the  dominant  idea  behind  it  was 
that  the  then  situation  in  regard  to  war  relief  activities  was 
chaotic,  both  in  the  matter  of  financial  support  and  administra- 
tive control.  President  Wilson  has  now  published  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  Mr.  Raymond  Fosdick  of  the  War  and  Navy  Depart- 
ments' Commissions  on  Training  Camp  Activities,  which  virtu- 
ally sets  up  a  national  War  Chest  for  the  seven  agencies  which 
are  recognized  and  controlled  by  the  Commission,  and  budgets 
are  set  definitely  in  the  President's  letter,  and  the  proportion 
which  each  is  to  get,  as  well  as  the  date  on  which  the  campaign 
is  to  begin. 

Moreover,  the  usual  campaign  for  the  sale  of  Christmas 
seals,  to  raise  funds  for  the  support  of  the  anti-tuberculosis  work 
in  the  United  States,  is  this  year  to  be  combined  with  the  Red 
•  Cross  membership  drive  at  Christmas  time.  It  is  said  to  be  not 
impossible  that  the  third  Red  Cross  war  fund  will  include  next 
j^ear's  membership  campaign,  though  no  definite  assurance  can 
yet  be  given  on  that  point  in  view  of  the  fact  that  a  rapidly  alter- 
ing military  situation  makes  it  impossible  for  Red  Cross  offi- 
cials to  determine  when  the  next  effort  for  funds  will  take  place. 

Assuming  that  this  step  is  taken,  in  addition  to  the  other 
two,  there  would  be  three  problems  of  some  importance  still  un- 
solved, viz. :  the  elimination  of  the  campaign  for  Armenian  and 
Syrian  relief,  which  has  twice  been  conducted  after  Presidential 
proclamation ;  second,  the  control  of  the  large  number  of  smaller 
unofficial  war  relief  agencies  who  do  not  solicit  by  means  of 
drives ;  and  third,  there  would  be  the  problemi  of  supporting  local 
war  activities  in  many  cases,  such  as  the  local  Red  Cross  chapter, 
the  campaign  expenses  for  Liberty  Bond  and  Thrift  Stamp  com- 
mittees, the  means  of  support  of  the  Farm  Bureau,  and,  in  some 
cases,  the  War  Bureau. 

While,  therefore,  the  situation  has  not  entirely  changed 
since  this  report  was  written,  it  is  only  fair  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  the  steps,  as  taken,  do  afford  a  very  serious  measure  of 
relief  and  obviate  many  of  the  difficulties  which  were  respon- 
sible for  the  War  Chest  movement,  and  these  considerations 
should  be  given  most  careful  attention  by  any  community  which 
has  thought  of  altering  its  methods  of  collecting  funds. 

Another  point  which  must,  in  fairness,  be  set  forth  on  the 
other  hand  is  that  while  the  action  of  the  President  and  the  de- 
velopment of  events  have  made  the  situation  less  acute,  thus 
rendering  the  War  Chest  somewhat  less  necessary  from  the 
standpoint  of  bringing  relief  to  communities,  it  does  not  wholly 
clear  the  situation,  and  it  has  simplified  the  task  of  disbursement 
by  virtually  setting  fixed  proportions.  To  that  extent  it  has  made 
the  War  Chest  plan  simpler  and  more  practicable  from  a  com- 
munity standpoint.  It  has  further  led  many  of  those  who 
opposed  the  War  Chest  to  abandon  opposition. 

667G29 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


FOREWORD  2 

CHAPTER  ONE 

Introduction    6 

Relation  to  State  Councils  of  Defense 11 

Productivity    12 

Dates-  and  Numbers    of  War  Chests 14 

Duration  of  War  Chest  Pledges 15 

Inclusiveness    • .  '• 19 

Agencies  included   20 

Red  Crass  Membership 26 

Local    Chariities 28 

CHAPTER  TWO 

Structure  of  the  War  Chest 32 

Campaign  Organization 38 

Overlapping 41 

Team    Structure 43 

Check  up  on  Workers 44 

100  %    Organizations 45 

Badges    46 

Campaign    Divisions 46 

Score  Boards 52 

Instructions  to  Workers 52 

CHAPTER  THREE 

The    Campaign 56 

Census    56 

Other  Methods 62 

Prospect  Cards' 63 

Rating 65 

Suggested    Amounts 68 

Basis  of  Pledge 77 

Form  of  Contribution 80 

Pledge  Forms 82 

Designated   Gifts * 89 

Competition   95 

Use  of  Pressure 97 

Follow-up    Subscriptions 103 

4 


CHAPTER  FOUR 

Collections   108 

Industrial   Collections 108 

Frequency  of  Deductions 112 

Patriotic    Half-Hour 113 

Personal    Collections 118 

Collections  by  Solicitors 118 

Centralized  Collections » 120 

Decentralized  Collections 120 

Methods  of  Payment 122 

Experience  with  Voluntary  Payments 123 

Voluntary  Units 124 

Bills 125 

Bank   Drafts 126 

Notes 128 

Following  up  Collections 128 

Bookkeeping  and  Accounting 130 

The   Salem   System 131 

Philadelphia 132 

Albany    134 

Glens    Falls 134 

Syracuse 134 

Columbus    135 

Detroit    135 

Conclusions 136 

CHAPTER  FIVE 

Disbursements 138 

Administrative  Expenses 138 

Budgets    141 

Other  Methods  of  Disbursements 146 

Suggested  Set  of  By-Laws 154 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  war  chest  is  simply  one  phase  of  a  movement  for 
reform  in  the  methods  of  financing  the  agencies  auxiliary  to  the 
conduct  of  the  war.  There  are  many  other  illustrations  of  the 
same  purpose.  It  is  said  that  as  early  as  June  there  was  held 
at  Washington  a  conference  looking  toward  a  merger  in  the 
financial  efforts  of  the  agencies  of  the  war  and  navy  depart- 
ments commissions  on  training  camp  activities.  The  action  of 
the  Connecticut  State  Council  of  Defense,  in  issuing  its  state- 
ment to  the  Council  of  National  Defense,  is  another  illustration. 
The  effort  of  the  Illinois  State  Council  of  Defense  to  organize 
a  regular  and  permanent  financial  committee  in  each  community 
represents  still  another  effort  in  the  same  direction.  Bulletin 
114  of  the  Washington  State  Council  of  Defense  outlines  the 
solution  proposed  in  that  state.  The  inauguration  of  the  Mer- 
cer County  plan  and  similar  efforts  indicate  the  widespread 
character  of  this  feeling.  The  mid-western  representative  of 
the  Council  of  National  Defense,  Mr.  John  H.  Winterbotham, 
reported  that  the  question  of  supervising  the  solicitation  of 
funds  absorbs  so  much  of  the  time  and  energy  of  some  local 
councils  that  it  detracts  materially  from  their  strength  in  other 
and  more  important  lines  of  national  defense  work. 

The  war  chest,  therefore,  is  simply  one  of  a  whole  group 
of  more  or  less  related  movements.  It  may  be  defined  as  a 
community  effort  to  raise  a  fund  from  which  the  moneys  nec- 
essary to  the  support  of  all  war  auxiliary  agencies  may  be 
drawn.  Beyond  that  definition  cannot  go,  because  there  are 
such  striking  divergences  of  name,  organization,  policy,  and 
practice. 

The  war  chest  movement  is  frankly  a  givers'  movement. 
Its  point  of  view  is  fundamentally  that  of  the  man  who  is  fur- 
nishing the  money,  not  that  of  organizations  which  are. asking 
for  money,  though  it  ought  to  be  said  at  once  that  while  there 
is  a  distinction  between  these  two  points  of  view  there  is  no 
necessary  hostility  between  them.  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
individual  giver  the  war  chest  is  desirable.  It  allows  him  to 
look  forward  and  plan  what  he  is  to  do.  In  the  case  of  the 
individual,  one  may  reason  in  two  fashions  concerning  the 
drive  system.  One  may  argue  that  by  making  a  specialized 
appeal  a  man  will  be  roused  to  an  effort  at  giving  which  at  a 
later  time,  under  the  stimulus  of  a  new  appeal,  he  will  repeat 
and  thus  give  more  than  he  intended  and  more  than  he  realizes. 
The  other  manner  of  reasoning  says  that  knowing  other  de- 
mands are  in  store,  but  being  unable  to  determine  how  many, 
a  man  holds  back  for  the  unforeseen,  confuses  many  givings  with 
much  giving,  thus  believing  that  he  has  done  better  than  he  has. 
The  only  umpire  between  these  two  arguments — equally  good 


theoretically  and  in  some  two  individual  cases  equally  good  in 
practice — is  production  statistics.  However  that  may  be,  the 
war  chest  calls  upon  a  man  to  determine  what  part  of  his  in- 
come he  is  willing  to  devote  to  the  support  of  the  humanitarian 
and  recreational  agencies  for  war  service  and  to  give  that  much. 
He  is  not  fooled  into  giving  more  than  he  ought,  nor  does  he 
fool  himself  into  the  belief  that  he  has  given  more  than  he 
actually  has. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  community  it  appears  that 
there  is  no  question  as  to  the  desirability  of  the  war  chest. 
One  is  compelled  to  this  conclusion  by  the  unanimous  expres- 
sions of  satisfaction  on  the  part  of  all  classes  of  war  chest  com- 
munities when  one  approaches  them  with  the  question  as  to  their 
opinion  of  tlie  new  as  against  the  old  method.  The  war  chest 
unquestionably  saves  a  great  deal  of  time  and  avoids  much  du- 
plicative effort.  It  obviates,  too,  the  general  disruption  of  busi- 
ness and  minimizes  the  expenditure  of  energy.  It  also  assures 
a  much  broader  and  more  comprehensive  basis  of  giving  than 
did  the  system  of  separate  drives.  Being  a  community  move- 
ment, it  stimulates  community  pride  and  from  that  point  of 
view  is  valuable.  Testimony  is  unanimous  as  to  the  unifying 
effect  upon  the  citizenship  and  increased  community  solidarity. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  smaller  agencies  there  appears 
to  be  slight,  if  any,  question  as  to  the  desirability  of  the  war 
chest.  The  smaller  organizations  have  not  the  same  advertising 
or  selling  value  as  their  better-known  and  larger  collaborators. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  not  the  same  challenge  in  a 
call  for  $10,000,000  that  there  is  in  a  call  for  $100,000,000,  and 
-it  is  consequently  more  difficult  to  create  adequate  organizations 
to  raise  money.  Yet  these  agencies,  many  of  them,  come  to  the 
public  with  official  endorsements  as  deserving  adequate  finan- 
cial support.  The  war  chest  plan  makes  it  possible  for  thera 
to  get  their  proper  share  of  the  money  raised  without  the  heart- 
breaking effort  that  is  now  necessary. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  Red  Cross  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
the  >var  chest  movement  is  nothing  to  be  feared,  provided  it  is 
properly  organized  and  wisely  conducted.  In  some  war  chest 
cities  the  policy  has  undoubtedly  been  somewhat  narrow.  In 
some,  perhaps,  money  has  been  unwisely  spent.  These  mistakes 
and  narrownesses  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  war  chest  princi- 
ple. 

It  may  be  true  that  the  general  adoption  of  the  war  chest 
would  entail  some  alteration  in  the  financial  methods  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Red  Cross,  but  there  would  be  no  tendency 
to  curtail  the  financial  support  of  those  great  movements. 
There  is  of  course  the  difficulty  arising  from  the  fact  that  the 
war  chest  is  not  universal  and,  being  a  community  movement, 
will  never  become  universal,  and  the  Red  Cross  and  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
are  compelled  in   consequence  to  adopt  different  methods   in 


different  places  instead  of  having  a  uniform  plan.  This  cannot 
be  remedied  unless  those  two  organizations  should  endorse  and 
adopt  the  war  chest  method.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that 
there  are  enough  war  chests  so  that  they  have  already  adjusted 
themselves  to  the  problem  created  and  that  the  multiplication 
of  the  war  chests  will  probably  not  seriously  complicate  the 
problem.  One  should  add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  war  chest 
movement  is  not  the  only  one  which  exerts  pressure  in  this  di- 
rection. Most  of  the  other  state  and  local  plans  have  much  the 
same  effect,  and  these,  like  the  war  chest,  are  gaining  more  and 
more  currency. 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  the  adoption  of  the  war 
chest  method  destroys  the  moral  effect  of  the  great  nation- 
wide intensive  effort  for  the  Red  Cross  or  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  which 
it  is  hoped  will  have  its  repercussion  in  Germany.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  however,  war  chests  may  readily  be  influenced  to  make 
their  subscriptions  at  that  time  and  so  create  the  same  moral 
effect  that  would  be  produced  upon  the  enemy  by  having  a  drive 
in  every  city. 

The  National  War  Work  Council  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  adopted 
a  resolution  opposing  the  war  chest  in  which  the  only  reason 
mentioned  was  that  it  did  not  seem  to  offer  the  same  flexibility 
that  the  drive  system  allowed.  With  all  deference  to  the  opin- 
ion of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  officials  in  this  matter,  it  is  only  fair  to 
point  out  that  there  is  not  the  same  difficulty  in  this  regard 
now  that  there  was  at  an  earlier  stage.  The  reason  is  that  the 
contest  has  reached  such  a  stage  that  organizations  can  look 
forward  with  somewhat  more  accuracy  in  their  efforts  to  de- 
termine what  their  needs  are  likely  to  be. 

The  six  agencies  of  the  Fosdick  Commission  are  this  year 
submitting  itemized  and  comprehensive  budgets.  The  fact  that 
that  commission  called  for  them  is  evidence  that  it  is  not  an 
impossible  task,  and  the  fact  that  the  initiative  in  the  matter 
is  said  to  have  come  from  one  of  the  large  organizations  is 
evidence  that  they  do  not  regard  it  as  unreasonable.  Even  last 
year  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  drew  up  a  budget  for  a  period  of  several 
months  and  called  for  $35,000,000.  It  is  said  on  good  authority 
they  were  able  to  live  within  that  budget  during  the  period 
planned  for.  All  of  these  facts  go  to  indicate  that  a  budget 
system  is  a  practicable  one  and  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  an 
effort  is  being  made  to  operate  to  some  extent  on  that  princi- 
ple. It  must  be  said  that  in  one  sense  some  of  these  budgets  are 
not  "rea^^  because  the  agencies  hope  for  and  expect  over-sub- 
scriptions, which  vitiates  the  budget  system  somewhat;  but  it 
does  not  alter  the  fact  that  with  proper  allowances  for  an  emer- 
gency fund  they  can  and  do  look  forward  to  anticipate  their 
needs. 

In  the  second  place  the  war  auxiliary  agencies  do  not  live 
under  a  peculiarly  flexible  system  now,  because  they  are  not 


entirely  free  to  return  to  the  public  with  a  call  for  funds  when- 
ever need  arises.  There  are  so  many  agencies  in  the  field  that 
when  one  takes  into  consideration  the  demands  upon  time  by 
actual  governmental  needs,  such  as  Liberty  bond  and  war  sav- 
ings stamp  campaigns,  any  single  agency  is  virtually  precluded 
from  returning  to  the  public  at  a  time  determined  wholly  by 
itself,  even  though  its  funds  may  need  replenishment.  A  letter 
from  Mr.  S.  M.  Greer,  assistant  general  manager  of  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  says:  *'In  deference  to  the  needs  of  other  de- 
partments of  the  Government  after  our  budget  had  been  deter- 
mined as  nearly  as  was  practical,  and  after  we  had  announced 
the  sum  we  desired  to  raise,  we  were  compelled  to  postpone  the 
date  of  our  campaign  upward  of  five  months."  One  would 
suppose,  and  it  is  doubtless  true,  that  the  Red  Cross  would  have 
the  greatest  consideration  in  this  matter  of  any  of  the  organi- 
zations, and  yet  it  appears  to  have  been  compelled  to  wait  five 
months  in  order  to  find  an  open  date. 

These  facts  make  it  appear  on  one  hand  that  the  data  nec- 
essary to  make  it  possible  for  the  war  chest  to  determine  the 
amount  which  it  should  raise  will  be  more  completely  available 
this  year  than  last,  and  secondly  that  the  drive  system  is  not  as 
flexible  as  it  has  frequently  been  presumed  to  be.  The  con- 
clusion seems  to  be  that  while  there  is  need  that  the  war  chest 
should  plan  for  a  considerable  emergency  fund,  there  is  no  long- 
er cause  for  serious  worry  with  regard  to  the  alleged  lack  of 
flexibility  of  the  war  chest  method. 

It  ought  to  be  said  in  candor  that  for  building  an  after-the- 
war  clientele  for  most  of  these  organizations,  the  war  chest 
is  not  the  ideal  agency.  It  makes  its  fundamental  appeal  on 
the  winning  of  the  war  rather  than  upon  any  auxiliary  of  the 
war.  The  Red  Cross  as  the  most  catholic  organization  and  the 
one  of  deepest  appeal  is  inevitably  put  in  the  foreground.  This 
means  that  so  far  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  K.  of  C.  and  the  Recrea- 
tion Association  of  America  ought  to  and  wish  to  educate  the 
public  as  to  the  value  of  their  own  particular  work  for  after-the- 
war  purposes,  they  must  do  it  by  whole-hearted  cooperation  in 
the  war  chest  campaign  and  by  purely  educational  efforts  at 
other  times  unconnected  with  the  raising  of  money. 

The  war  chest  attempts  to  reduce  the  matter  of  giving  to 
something  like  its  proper  proportion  of  expended  effort.  It 
seems  altogether  possible  that  in  view  of  the  tremendous  num- 
ber of  things  on  which  the  public  needs  education — war  invest- 
ments, fuel  and  food  conservation,  not  to  mention  such  subjects 
as  the  aims  and  issues  of  the  war — the  matter  of  giving  to  war 
auxiliary  agencies  threatens  under  the  perpetuation  of  the  drive 
system  to  absorb  more  than  its  proper  share  of  time  and  energy. 
This  is  not  intended  to  reflect  upon  the  situation  last  year,  but 
simply  to  apply  to  present  conditions  and  such  conditions  as 
appear  to  be  developing.     With  the  increase  of  war  activities 

9 


and  with  the  departure  of  more  and  more  men  for  military 
service,  it  seems  fair  to  say  that  if  these  agencies  can  be  sup- 
ported with  the  expenditure  of  less  effort  and  time,  there  will 
still  be  plenty  that  remains  to  be  done  so  that  neither  the  time 
nor  the  effort  thus  saved  will  be  idle. 

The  arguments  for  and  against  the  war  chest  have  been 
recited  so  many  times  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  them 
here.  It  is  worth  while,  however,  to  emphasize  that  the  war 
chest  makes  possible  the  democratization  of  giving.  The  indus- 
trial worker  is  given  his  opportunity  to  participate  as  never 
before,  particularly  in  agencies  other  than  the  two  leading  ones. 
He  has  seldom  been  called  upon,  save  through  the  war  fund,  to 
contribute  to  the  support  of  the  local  Red  Cross.  The  supple- 
mentary calls  for  the  support  of  the  local  chapter  have  usually 
been  confined  to  a  relatively  narrow  circle.  This,  of  all  war 
relief  activities,  particularly  in  view  of  the  development  of  the 
home  service  feature,  should  be  a  community  enterprise  on  the 
broadest  possible  basis  a^d  above  the  slightest  suspicion  that  it 
is  a  charitable  agency  in  the  hands  of  a  social  group  or  class. 
The  war  chest  integrates  a  larger  share  of  the  community 
in  all  the  war  auxiliary  movements,  and  if  an  effort  is  made 
to  publish  not  only  the  amount  of  the  war  chest  appropriation 
but  also  the  agency  to  which  it  is  going  and  the  nature  and  value 
of  its  work,  that  integration  may  be  made  real  and  not  merely 
formal. 

Finally,  the  war  chest  method  makes  possible  a  fairer  dis- 
tribution of  the  community  gift  than  is  now  possible.  Without 
attempting  to  discount  the  divergences  and  the  occasional  ab- 
surdities in  this  matter  which  are  set  forth  elsewhere  in  this 
report,  it  must  be  said  that  they  are  not  as  great  nor  as  absurd 
as  those  which  appear  to  have  been  obtained  under  the  drive 
system.  This  after  all  is  natural.  A  body  of  men,  usually  small 
and  of  more  than  average  intelligence,  can  by  careful  study  and 
thought  arrive  at  a  saner  and  fairer  conclusion  than  can  be 
reached  by  a  process  of  having  a  quota  assigned,  then  campaign- 
ing in  an  effort  to  reach  or  over-reach  it,  the  result  being  a 
total  which  no  one  could  possibly  forecast  and  which  is  difficult, 
often,  logically  to  justify.  Occasionally  it  is  argued  that  the 
total  justifies  itself  because  every  agency  should  have  as  much 
support  as  it  can  convince  the  public  it  needs.  That  argument 
does  not  seem  to  be  sound.  Some  organizations  have  work 
which  is  spectacular  and  which  has  an  emotional  appeal.  Others 
have  work  more  prosaic  in  character  though  no  less  necessary; 
theirs  must  be  a  purely  intellectual  appeal.  The  funds  result- 
ing from  these  two  sorts  of  appeal  are  not  likely  to  furnish  an 
accurate  gauge  of  the  relative  values  of  the  two  organizations. 
In  short,  the  difference  in  methods  of  apportioning  the  commu- 
nity^ gift  leads  to  a  conclusion  wholly  in  favor  of  the  war  chest 
as  against  the  drive  method. 

10 


The  conclusion  which  these  considerations  induce  is  that 
the  war  chest  and  related  expedients  were  produced  and  are 
being  propagated  because  of  evils  in  the  present  system  which 
are  admitted  by  the  leaders  of  the  chief  organizations.  If 
there  had  been  only  one  or  two  organizations  in  the  field,  the 
present  situation  would  never  have  arisen;  but  in  view  of  the 
large  number  of  them,  and  in  view  of  the  methods  adopted  by 
the  Government  in  marketing  bonds  and  war  savings  stamps, 
community  action  in  self  defense  is  justifiable.  Though  the 
war  chest  is,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  two  great  organiza- 
tions, somewhat  inconvenient,  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  is 
harmful  and  its  benefits  to  the  communities  outweigh  its  incon- 
venience to  the  organizations,  much  as  any  such  inconvenience 
is  to  be  regretted. 

Relation  to  State  Councils  of  Defense. 

Five  state  councils  of  defense,  namely,  those  of  Michigan, 
New  Mexico,  New  York,  Washington,  and  Wisconsin  have  ad- 
vocated a  state-wide  adoption  of  the  war  chest  plan.  Few, 
however,  appear  to  be  taking  a  very  active  part  in  meeting  and 
helping  to  solve  the  problems  which  are  inevitably  involved  in 
the  war  chest.  Generally  speaking,  state  councils  simply  en- 
dorse or  disapprove  the  war  chest  without  making  an  effort  to 
make  their  approval  or  disapproval  effective.  For  example,  in 
Illinois,  where  it  is  necessary  for  any  agency  which  desires  to 
collect  funds  to  have  a  license  from  the  state  council  of  defense, 
war  chests  have  not  been  refused  licenses,  though  the  council 
has  disapproved  the  plan,  as  have  the  councils  of  Indiana,  Ten- 
nessee, Viirginia,  and  Massachusetts. 

The  Washington  State  Council  of  Defense  has  taken  two 
steps  in  this  matter  which  are  a  distinct  help  to  war  chest  cities. 
It  has  set  a  county  quota  which  is  fixed,  being  expressed  in 
terms  of  percent,  and  in  this  manner  has  made  it  possible  for 
war  chest  cities  to  determine  what  they  ought  to  pay  organiza- 
tions. It  also  forbids  over-subscription,  which  removes  another 
embarrassing  problem.  The  Washington  Council,  moreover, 
has  dealt  with  the  question  of  local  charities  participating  by 
stating  that  campaigns  for  the  support  of  institutions  not  organ- 
ized primarily  for  war  work  may  not  be  combined  with  appeals 
for  funds  for  war  work.  Appeals  for  the  war  work  of  local 
institutions  may  not  be  combined  with  campaigns  for  state  and 
national  war  funds,  save  with  the  special  approval  of  the  State 
Council  of  Defense. 

Occasionally  the  members  of  the  local  councils  of  defense, 
which  are  sometimes  appointed  by  and  usually  have  a  direct 
relation  to  the  state  council  of  defense,  are  members  of  the  war 
chest  governing  body.     In  several  instances  all  the  officials  of 

11 


the  local  council  of  defense  and  of  the  war  chest  are  identfcal. 
In  general,  however,  apparently  because  of  the  fact  that  not  all 
the  states  are  thoroughly  organized  and  because  of  the  fact 
that  relatively  few  state  councils  have  taken  any  position  in 
the  matter,  there  is  no  relation  between  the  war  chests  and  the 
state  councils  of  defense.  So  far  as  Connecticut  is  concerned, 
it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  the  war  chest  wherever  established 
should  be  very  carefully  integrated  with  the  War  Bureau  and 
through  that  with  the  state  council  of  defense. 


Productivity. 

The  war  chest  produces  money.  There  has  been  a  great 
deal  of  dispute  as  to  whether  the  war  chest  or  the  drive  system 
produces  more  money.  There  can  be  no  logically  conclusive 
decision  among  the  disputants  in  this  matter.  It  is  not  enough 
to  show  that  war  chest  cities  raised  more  money  this  year  than 
last  year,  because  cities  which  have  not  adopted  the  war  chest 
have  also  raised  more  money  this  year.  Nor  does  the  compar- 
ative percentage  of  increase  give  us  an  absolutely  safe  guide, 
because  in  any  given  instance  it  is  governed  by  a  number  of 
factors  whose  influence  cannot  be  analyzed  accurately.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  would  not  be  enough  for  the  Red  Cross  to  show 
that  they  have  actually  received  less  or  a  smaller  percentage  of 
increase  from  war  chest  cities  than  from  cities  without  the  war 
chest.  Such  statistics  would  serve  merely  as  an  index  to  the 
practice  of  some  war  chest  cities  in  relation  to  the  policy  of 
over-subscription  of  quotas.  Moreover  the  figures  would  need 
closer  analysis  to  determine  whether  the  war  chests  involved 
make  separate  appropriation  for  the  local  chapter  of  the  Red 
Cross,  and  whether  they  propose  to  distribute  any  surplus  at 
the  close  of  the  fiscal  year.  Many  other  factors  also  enter  into 
the  problem  and  complicate  it  so  thoroughly  that  it  defies  ef- 
fective analysis. 

It  is  really  astonishing  that,  in  view  of  the  tremendous 
variety  of  methods  employed,  there  should  be  such  uniformity 
of  results  as  does  actually  exist.  Some  war  chests  had  no  drive 
at  all  but  simply  called  for  volunteers  to  come  forward  and 
subscribe.  Some  limited  themselves  to  mail  solicitations,  some 
conducted  their  whole  campaign  in  one  day,  some  campaigned 
for  a  month.  Despite  these  remarkable  differences  in  practice, 
only  six  that  reported  fell  below  the  goal  which  was  set  and  in 
some  of  these  cases  it  is  demonstrable  that  enthusiasm  outran 
judgment  in  setting  the  goal. 

Many  of  the  cities  which  reported  did  not  report  completely, 
or  did  not  report  clearly,  and  have,  in  consequence,  been  omit- 
ted.    The  best  that  it  has  been  possible  to  do  in  a  statistical 

12 


way,  therefore,  was  to  take  the  material  from  about  sixty  cities, 
whose  figures  were  clear  and  dependable.  They  cover  all  types 
from  metropolitan  areas  like  Philadelphia  and  vicinity,  to  vil- 
lages of  less  than  five  hundred  inhabitants.  They  are  scattered 
from  Georgia  and  Maine  on  the  east  to  New  Mexico,  California 
and  Montana  on  the  west.  As  nearly  as  any  group  could,  they 
seem  to  be  a  fair  cross-section  sample  of  the  United  States. 
Some  are  admitted  failures,  others  striking  successes  and  there 
has  been  absolutely  no  ''loading."  These  cities  reveal  an  ave- 
rage gift  of  $22.07  for  every  subscriber,  and  an  average 
per  capita  gift  of  $8.68,  and  something  over  35%  of  the 
population  enrolled  as  givers.  Lexington,  Mass.,  Rochester  and 
Rome,  N.  Y.,  lead  in  size  of  the  average  gift,  each  with  $40.00 
or  more.  The  lowest  average  gift  is  Vevay  with  $6.60.  The 
highest  per  capita  gift  is  in  Rochester  with  $19.40  and  the  low- 
est in  Albion  with  $2.18.  The  largest  per  cent,  of  population 
is  in  Albany  with  58%  of  the  population  enrolled  as  subscrib- 
ers, and  the  lowest  reporting  is  Albion  with  13%.  It  ought  to 
be  said  that  the  statistics  with  regard  to  the  average  gift  and 
percentage  of  population  have  been  vitiated  by  the  fact  that 
some  included  children  and  other  persons  without  independent 
income  in  their  lists  of  subscribers,  others  did  not,  the  natural 
result  being  that  those  which  did  include  children  had  a  lower 
average  gift  and  a  higher  percentage  of  population. 

The  really  significant  figure  is  that  with  regard  to  the  per 
capita  gift.  If  it  were  applied  to  the  whole  United  States,  a  not 
unfair  process  if  these  cities  are  as  near  a  normal  sample  as 
they  appear  to  be,  the  result  would  be  a  national  gift  of  $868,- 
000,000.  Last  year  not  one-half  that  was  raised.  The  antic- 
ipation for  this  year  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  not  much  over 
$500,000,000. 

At  all  events  it  seems  that  there  is  developing  a  consensus 
of  opinion  that  the  war  chest  will  prod-uce  funds  enough.  A 
letter  from  Mr.  S.  M.  Greer,  assistant  general  manager  of  the 
American  Red  Cross,  says,  in  speaking  of  the  comparative  pro- 
ductive power  "the  fact  that  stands  out  is  that  any  method 
which  appeals  to  the  American  people  will  obtain  a  generous 
response,"  and  again,  '*it  would  seem,  then,  that  for  proper 
purposes  the  money  can  be  had  in  either  case." 

The  conclusion  derived  from  a  sincere  effort  to  get  at  the 
actual  facts  in  the  matter  is  that  the  war  chest  produces  at 
least  as  much  money  as  the  drive  system  in  any  given  community 
and  probably  produces  a  very  considerable  amount  more.  It 
ought  to  be  said  that  that  statement  is  extraordinarily  conser- 
vative and  is  made  so  because  of  realization  of  the  impossibility 
of  complete  logical  demonstration.  The  impression  which  the 
study  leads  to  is  that  the  war  chest  is  a  very  much  better  pro- 
ductive agent  than  the  individual  drive. 

13 


Dates  and  Number  of  War  Chests. 

There  are  no  accurate  statistics  on  the  number  of  war 
chests.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that  there  has  been  no 
central  agency  to  which  they  all  report,  partly  because  a  number 
of  communities  sometimes  join  in  one  war  chest  and  fail  to 
make  the  matter  wholly  clear,  and  partly  because  so  many  dif- 
ferent names  have  been  used  and  so  many  varieties  of  the 
scheme  utilized  that  letters  sent  to  the  president  of  the  war 
chest  association  fail  to  reach  the  person  in  authority  under  the 
plan  adopted  in  a  given  locality,  by  whatever  title  he  may  be 
called.  Consequently,  accuracy  with  regard  to  the  number  and 
the  dates  of  war  chests  cannot  be  had  and  the  statement  here 
is  admittedly  inadequate  though  it  is  probably  the  most  complete 
and  accurate  there  is.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  are  over 
three  hundred  war  chest  communities  in  the  United  States. 
The  first  war  chest  associations  were  organized  in  Syracuse 
and  in  the  towns  of  Ilion  and  Mohawk  acting  together.  Which 
of  these  was  first,  I  do  not  know ;  both  were  put  in  operation  in 
June,  1917.  That  at  Syracuse  has  been  a  pronounced  success. 
The  Ilion  and  Mohawk  association  is  not  as  strikingly  successful, 
but  should  not  be  called  by  any  means  a  failure.  The  next  war 
chests  which  have  reported  are  Kenosha,  Wisconsin,  and  Gran- 
ville, N.  Y.,  which  were  put  in  operation  in  November,  1917. 
There  follow  in  January,  1918,  Herkimer,  N.  Y.,  and  Elkhart, 
Indiana,  and  in  February  Columbus,  Ohio,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  Albur- 
querque.  New  Mexico,  Escanaba,  Michigan,  Oswego,  N.  Y. 
Before  the  Red  Cross  drive  opened  on  the  20th  of  May  there 
had  been  forty-five  war  chests  established  which  have  reported 
their  dates.  Forty-four  more  specifically  state  that  they  were 
put  in  operation  at  the  time  of  the  Red  Cross  campaign  in  May, 
1918.  Eleven  have  reported  their  organization  since  then  and 
the  volume  of  correspondence  which  has  developed  indicates  that 
large  numbers  are  preparing  to  organize  for  operations  this 
fall. 

On  the  whole,  it  seems  fair  to  say  that  there  has  been 
created  a  sufficient  body  of  experience  to  be  of  large  value. 
The  plan  has  been  in  existence  more  than  a  year.  One  of  the 
cities  has  had  a  second  campaign,  the  results  being  such  an 
extraordinary  increase  over  the  first  that  the  community  was 
thoroughly  satisfied.  The  better  methods  of  conducting  a  cam- 
paign can  certainly  be  drawn  from  experience ;  various  methods 
of  collecting  are  already  proving  their  several  values ;  the  prob- 
lem of  disbursement  has  been  handled  so  variously  that  it  is 
possible  to  get  a  good  deal  of  information  along  that  line. 

Taking  it  all  in  all,  it  seems  safe  to  say  that  the  war  chest 
has  passed  beyond  the  experimental  stage  and  can  now  be  more 
or  less  standardized  and  regularized.  If  every  community  is 
careful  to  put  itself  in  possession  of  the  experience  of  others  in 

14 


almost  any  particular  line,  it  will  have  available  a  considerable 
body  of  experience  to  give  an  idea  of  the  wisest  methods  to 
follow.  By  associating  themselves  with  a  national  organiza- 
tion for  the  interchange  of  experience  and  information,  cities 
will  avoid  the  hard  necessity  of  learning  exclusively  by  their 
own  mistakes  and  can  profit  very  largely  by  the  experience  of 
others. 

Duration  of  War  Chest  Pledges. 

The  pledges  taken  under  the  war  chest  plan  vary  widely  in 
the  period  of  time  for  which  they  are  effective.  The  original 
plan  followed  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in  the  campaign  of  June, 
1917,  was  to  take  pledges  for  the  duration  of  the  war,  the  idea 
being  that  people  should  have  just  one  solicitation  and  then  give 
regularly  thereafter.  Twenty-eight  cities  have  reported  that 
they  follow  that  plan. 

As  the  war  has  gone  on,  however,  and  the  needs  of  the 
agencies  have  increased  vastly  it  has  become  evident  that  that 
plan  has  certain  difficulties  and  dangers.  These  arise  partly 
from  the  unforeseen  development  of  humanitarian  and  recrea- 
tional work,  and  partly  from  the  movement  of  population,  the 
moving  away  of  subscribers  and  the  coming  of  new  persons  who 
should  be  given  an  opportunity  to  play  their  part.  In  conse- 
quence of  these  considerations  and  others — inconvenient  book- 
keeping and  the  establishment  of  a  proper  system  of  caring  for 
labor  turn-over — Syracuse  abandoned  the  original  plan  and  con- 
ducted a  new  campaign  in  June,  1918,  cancelling  all  former 
pledges  and  making  the  new  pledges  run  for  a  period  of  a  year. 
Careful  inquiry  among  different  classes  of  population  developed 
the  fact  that  this  was  not  regarded  by  the  public  in  any  way 
as  a  breach  of  faith,  because  it  recognized  the  situation.  The 
fact  that  the  alteration  in  plan  did  not  develop  friction  is  also 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  number  of  subscribers  was  much 
more  than  doubled  and  the  amount  of  the  subscriptions  was  at 
least  doubled. 

The  present  scheme  in  use  at  Syracuse  constitutes  the  sec- 
ond general  plan  with  regard  to  the  duration  of  pledges.  Thir- 
ty-nine towns  have  reported  that  they  take  pledges  for  a  period 
of  one  year.  Six  allow  the  subscriber  an  option  between  signing 
for  one  year  or  for  the  duration  of  the  war. 

There  are  other  plans.  A  few  cities  have  adopted  the 
method  of  Mitchell,  S.  D.,  namely,  to  have  pledges  not  for  the 
duration  of  the  war,  but  for  the  period  during  which  war  relief 
is  necessary,  which  may  be  of  much  longer  duration  than  the 
war.  Billings,  Mont.,  took  pledges  for  the  duration  of  the  War 
Service  League.  These  plans  are  open  to  the  same  objections 
to  which  pledges  for  the  duration  of  the  war  are  open,  and  are 
not  vrise  plans  to  follow. 

Kenosha,  Wis.,  and  Lansing,  Mich.,  and  certain  other  cities 
have  set  odd  periods  of  time,  such  as  thirteen  months  or  ten 

15 


months,  for  the  duration  of  their  pledges,  apparently  in  order 
to  bring  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  at  what  was  deemed  to 
be  a  convenient  time. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  originated  the  idea  of  having  pledges  for 
six  months,  the  purpose  being  to  have  two  drives  a  year.  In 
its  first  campaign  in  May,  1918,  pledges  were  taken  for  a  period 
of  seven  months  in  order  to  make  the  fiscal  year  b^gin  with 
the  calendar  year.  This  plan  is  advocated  strongly  in  Cleve- 
land on  the  ground  that  it  facilitates  the  operation  of  the  budget 
principle  in  making  disbursements  as  against  the  necessity  for 
having  disbursements  made  by  a  committee  after  the  amount 
has  been  raised.  Those  in  charge  of  the  war  chest  there  felt 
that  by  attempting  to  look  forward  only  six  months  a  budget 
was  possible,  whereas  it  would  not  be  advisable  if  a  whole  year 
was  to  be  covered.  This  unquestionably  gives  an  element  of 
flexibility  to  the  budget  method  of  disbursement.  The  leaders 
in  Cleveland  feel  also  that  this  plan  meets  the  argument,  wheth- 
er sound  or  not,  that  the  public  needs  constant  re-information 
by  means  of  drives.  It  ought  to  be  said  under  the  operation  of 
this  idea  it  is  understood  that  any  over-subscription  of  the 
amount  demanded  by  the  budget  shall  be  applied  to  the  ensu- 
ing fiscal  period,  i.  e.,  they  do  not  propose  to  over-subscribe  the 
amounts  called  for  by  their  budget  and  to  spend  all  the  money 
collected  within  this  fiscal  period.  The  reason  for  this  is  that 
they  feel  that  it  would  be  doing  a  moral  injustice  to  the  sub- 
scribers who  ought  to  do  their  proper  part  in  making  payments 
toward  these  organizations,  but  no  more.  Many,  if  not  most, 
of  the  cities  which  have  adopted  a  year  as  the  period  for  the 
duration  of  their  pledges  are  perfectly  candid  in  saying  that  if 
the  amount  which  is  collected  proves  insufficient  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  Red  Cross  and  the  other  organizations  there 
will  be  no  hesitancy  in  approaching  the  public  for  more  funds. 
Many  war  chests  have  published  a  statement  to  that  effect. 
For  example,  Springfield,  Mass.,  published  the  following  state- 
ment, prepared  by  Mr.  Charles  Hall : 

"It  is  impossible  at  this  time  to  determine  accurately  what  is 
going  to  be  required  by  war  relief  organizations  for  the  next  twelve 
months,  but  based  on  such  information  as  is  available  and  after  tak- 
ing into  account  that  the  activities  of  all  these  organizations  are  in- 
creasing by  leaps  and  bounds,  the  trustees  feel  safe  in  stating  that  if 
$1,200,000  is  obtained  from  the  war  chest  territory  it  will  take  care 
of  demands  to  be  made  upon  us  for  the  next  twelve  months." 

The  guarantee  is  not  that  there  will  be  no  other  war  chest 
canvass  within  a  year,  but  that  no  other  organization .  save  the 
war  chest  can  make  a  canvass  within  one  year. 

Roanoke,  Va.,  was  explicit  in  saying  that  the  pledges  were 
to  cover  one  year  "unless  dire  necessity  made  the  demands  such 
that  the  war  chest  would  be  insufficient."     D*etroit  published 

16 


a  statement  which  said  that  "by  the  terms  of  agreement  with 
the  patriotic  fund  the  subscriber  is  protected  for  one  year  from 
further  solicitation  except  in  case  of  possible  national  emergen- 
cies that  may  arise."  The  statement  in  Newberry  read  that  they 
would  sanction  "no  other  requests  for  subscriptions  for  contri- 
butions for  patriotic  purposes  except  in  case  the  funds  should 
prove  inadequate  to  care  for  the  demands  made  upon  the 
county." 

These  quotations  may  be  taken  as  sample  statements  and 
represent  what  appears  to  be  a  safe  and  proper  method  of  hand- 
ling the  situation,  namely,  to  make  the  duration  of  pledges  only 
presumptively  one  year  but  to  give  no  guarantee  that  the  war 
chest  will  not  return  within  that  period  if  calamities  should  lead 
to  a  situation  where  its  funds  should  prove  inadequate.  This 
practice  is  not,  as  has  sometimes  been  said,  a  substantial  return 
to  the  drive  system,  because  such  an  emergency,  as  it  relates  to 
the  war  chest,  would  come  only  as  a  result  of  an  emergency  call 
from  the  Red  Cross  or  one  of  the  other  organizations.  A  disas- 
ter of  large  proportions  would  be  likely  to  involve  at  least  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  addition  to  the  Red  Cross.  In  that  case  commu- 
nities would  be  faced  with  a  whole  group  of  emergency  drives, 
whereas  many  war  chests  would  not  have  to  campaign  at  all 
because  of  the  size  of  their  emergency  funds  and  such  cities  as 
did  have  to  make  an  appeal  would  have  only  one  and  not  several 
as  a  result  of  the  emergency. 

It  is  clear  that  it  is  unwise  to  set  a  fixed  time  before  which 
the  war  chest  agrees  not  to  approach  the  public  for  further 
funds.  The  correlative  problem  is  whether  the  war  chest 
should  set  a  fixed  time  at  which  it  will  come  back  to  the  public 
for  funds  even  though  the  needs  of  the  various  agencies  have 
not  yet  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  chest.  There  are  four 
types  of  practice  in  relation  to  this. 

First  of  all,  certain  cities,  notably  Rochester  and  Detroit, 
which  are  mentioned  simply  as  prominent  examples,  plan  to  dis- 
burse the  entire  amount  of  the  funds  collected  within  the  period 
of  a  year.  This  means  a  large  over-subscription  to  practically 
every  participating  cause.  All  things  considered,  this  seems 
to  me  to  be  the  best  method  while  war  auxiliary  agencies  con- 
tinue to  finance  their  work  as  at  present  without  attempting 
to  make  real  budgets. 

The  second  method,  one  which  appears  to  be  unique,  is  used 
by  the  Montgomery  County  War  Chest  with  headquarters  at 
Crawfordsville,  Indiana.  The  plan  allows  the  committee  which 
controls  the  fund  to  designate  any  particular  month  or  months 
when  payments  shall  be  omitted,  if  it  is  confident  that  without 
such  payments  there  will  still  be  sufficient  money  to  meet  de- 
mands of  the  causes  to  which  the  war  chest  contributes.  Inas- 
much as  all  pledges  are  payable  monthly  the  omission  of  any 
payment  affects  all  subscribers  equally. 

17 


The  third  method  is  to  carry  over  the  amount  which  is  not 
absorbed  in  meeting  quotas  and  reduce  by  that  much  the  call 
at  the  next  campaign. 

The  fourth  plan,  that  to  be  used  in  several  Ohio  cities  as 
well  as  certain  others,  is  to  postpone  the  time  of  the  next  drive 
until  more  money  is  needed  to  meet  the  quotas  assigned  to  the 
community  which  may  be  thirteen  or  fifteen  or  more  months. 

The  last  three  of  these  plans  are  obviously  built  upon  the 
assumption  that  the  war  chest  will  not  over-subscribe  its  quotas 
for  the  various  agencies.  In  response  to  the  objection  that 
these  methods  are  likely  to  lull  the  constituency  to  sleep  and  to 
make  the  public  feel  that  there  is  no  need  for  real  sacrificial 
effort,  the  answer  is  made  that  nothing  conduces  to  such  confi- 
dence on  the  part  of  the  giving  public  in  the  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence of  the  disbursement  agents  as  to  have  the  administration 
of  the  funds  put  on  one  of  these  basis.  The  argument  runs  as 
follows : 

"We  look  ahead  and  see,  let  us  say,  a  need  for  $100,000  to  meet 
the  probable  demands  and  also  the  improbable  calls  which  emergency 
may  bring.  By  urging  the  people  to  give  to  the  limit  in  view  of  pos- 
sible disaster  they  produce,  let  us  say,  $200,000.  Now  if  we  expend 
the  whole  of  that  $200,000  without  the  arising  of  a  national  emergency 
it  means  that  we  have  called  'wolf  like  the  shepherd  boy  of  the  fable, 
and  then  deceived  them.  When  on  the  other  hand  we  conserve  that 
money  by  not  over-subscribing  it  does  not  cripple  the  national  organ- 
izations, since  they  get  all  they  ask  for  and  whenever  they  need  more 
they  are  always  free  to  ask  for  it.  These  methods  create  tremendous 
confidence  on  the  part  of  the  public  in  the  trustworthiness  and  candor 
of  those  to  whom  they  have  committed  the  administration  of  their 
gifts.  If  you  warn  the  public,"  the  argument  continues,  "that  you  may 
return  with  a  new  demand  for  funds  within  twelve  months  you  make 
your  terminal  point  movable.  If  you  move  it  one  way  in  the  face  of 
emergency  demand  it  is  only  fair  that  you  S'hould  move  it  in  the  other 
direction  if  the  demands  are  such  that  it  is  possible  to  do  so." 

Unquestionably  this  logic  has  some  force,  and  if  the  war 
relief  agencies  were  regulated  by  a  Federal  commission  and  had 
real  budgets,  it  would  be  the  proper  practice.  So  long,  however, 
as  present  methods  prevail  a  due  regard  for  the  wishes  of  the 
agencies,  whose  interests  after  all  the  war  chest  ought  assidu- 
ously to  serve,  demands  that  the  policy  of  over-subscription  be 
adopted.  At  present  all  of  these  agencies  use  the  over-sub- 
scription not  merely  for  the  enlargement  of  their  work  but  also 
for  the  extension  of  the  time  between  their  appeals  for  funds. 
It  is  obvious  therefore  that  when  one  of  these  agencies  collected 
precisely  the  amount  of  its  quota  demands  it  would  return  for 
more  in  ten  months,  but  when  it  collected  an  amount  in  excess 
of  exact  quota  assignments  it  would  postpone  its  return  for 
more  funds  until  twelve  months  had  elapsed,  there  is  a  period 

18 


of  two  months  out  of  that  year  in  which  cities  which  paid  only 
the  face  of  their  quotas  are  not  contributing  to  its  support  but 
are  leaving  that  wholly  to  such  cities  as  over-subscribed.  This 
is  not  a  theoretical  argument.  Last  year  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  called 
for  $35,000,000,  which  was  to  finance  its  work  until  July.  The 
over-subscription  allows  it  to  postpone  its  call  to  the  public  a 
number  of  months.  During  those  months  the  cities  which  gave 
only  the  exact  amounts  of  their  quotas  are  not  contributing  to 
its  support. 

The  only  reason  in  the  light  of  these  facts  for  refusing 
over-subscriptions  is  that  it  it  is  a  justifiable  means  of  bringing 
pressure  upon  the  war  auxiliary  agencies  for  reform.  While 
there  is  some  evidence  that  it  is  not  a  wholly  ineffective  method 
it  seems  on  the  whole  wiser  to  use  other  means.  It  ought  to  be 
said  in  fairness  that  this  is  an  individual  judgment  and  must  be 
construed,  therefore,  not  as  a  criticism  of  the  action  of  the  war 
chests  which  follow  the  practice  of  refusing  to  over-subscribe, 
but  simply  expresses  a  difference  of  opinion.  The  war  chests 
are  not  the  only  agencies  which  follow  this  plan.  The  Mercer 
County  plan,  which  has  gained  considerable  currency,  is  built 
upon  refusal  to  over-subscribe  quotas;  the  Washington  State 
Council  of  Defense  in  its  Bulletin  114  practically  prohibits  over- 
subscription of  quotas  to  any  cause.  In  short,  most  of  the  local 
and  state  attempts  to  work  reform  in  present  methods  of  financ- 
ing these  agencies  are  based  upon  refusal  to  over-subscribe. 
Elsewhere  in  this  report  it  is  pointed  out  that  the  writer  agrees 
with  the  principle  but  feels  that  further  opportunity  should 
first  be  given  the  agencies  themselves  to  alter  their  present 
methods. 

INCLUSIVENESS. 

The  policy  with  regard  to  the  territorial  extent  of  war 
chests  has  not  become  standardized.  Occasionally  it  follows  the 
Red  Cross  chapter  organization  or  the  organization  of  the  state 
under  the  council  of  defense  for  war  purposes.  In  general  the 
normal  political  entities  govern  this  policy.  Thus,  in  states 
where  the  county  plays  a  significant  part  in  political  life,  the 
war  chest  is  likely  to  be  county-wide  in  extent.  In  Wisconsin 
and  Ohio,  for  example,  practically  all  the  war  chests  include 
entire  counties.  In  New  England,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the 
city  or  township  is  the  unit  of  political  life,  relatively  few  war 
chests  include  whole  counties.  Occasionally  in  some  great  met- 
ropolitan area  as,  for  example,  Philadelphia  the  war  chest 
covers  more  than  one  county.     In  that  case  it  includes  five. 

As  applied  to  Connecticut  the  wise  principle  appears  to  be 
to  base  the  inclusiveness  on  four  considerations:  first,  the  or- 
ganization of  the  State  under  the  Council  of  Defense;  second, 
the  organization  of  the  Red  Cross  chapters;  third,  the  embrac- 
ing of  surburbs  which  furnish  large  numbers  to  industrial  cen- 
ters, so  that  those  who  commute  will  not  be  solicited  in  two 

19 


places  and  so  that  they  may  be  reached  primarily  through  their 
places  of  employment,  which  proves  to  be  the  most  effective 
manner  of  reaching  people ;  and,  fourth,  the  matter  of  covering 
the  ground  without  leaving  stray  bits  of  territory  which  would 
be  difficult  to  organize  separately. 

There  is,  unquestionably,  some  prejudice  against  including 
rural  districts  in  a  city  war  chest,  because  for  one  reason  or 
other  the  country  districts  have  not  the  same  giving  capacity  as 
urban  centers.  Cities  are  usually  eager  to  make  a  record,  and 
hesitate  to  include  districts  which  may  not  produce  large 
amounts  and  which  will  have  a  tendency  in  consequence  to  lower 
the  standard  of  pledge  and  limit  productive  power.  This,  how- 
ever, is  a  factor  which  should  not  be  allowed  to  enter  seriously 
into  the  question  because  of  the  larger  and  more  important 
issues  involved. 

Agencies  Included. 

It  is  impossible  to  discover  an  absolute  standard  with 
regard  to  how  many  or  what  agencies  are  allowed  to  participate. 
This  is  not  at  all  surprising  when  one  considers  the  number  of 
organizations  approaching  the  public  with  appeals  for  funds  and 
when  one  realizes  that  there  is  no  rational  method  of  endorse- 
ment for  them.  The  only  agency  endorsed  by  the  Council  of 
National  Defense  is  the  Red  Cross.  The  six  agencies  which 
operate  under  the  Fosdick  Commission  are  endorsed  by  that 
body,  which  is  an  agent  of  the  War  and  Navy  Departments  but 
strangely  enough  are  not  given  endorsement  by  the  Council  of 
National  Defense.  There  is  beside  these  the  Salvation  Army, 
which,  if  Mr.  Fosdick  is  accurately  quoted  in  the  New  York 
Times,  "is  recognized  by  the  American  Expeditionary  Force," 
though  not  by  the  Fosdick  Commission  itself — surely  an  anoma- 
lous situation.  There  are  in  addition  agencies  which  on  the  one 
hand  receive  funds  from  the  Red  Cross — for  example,  the  Arme- 
nian and  Syrian  Relief — and  which  are  thus  stamped  with  its 
approval,  and  others  with  contribute  to  the  Red  Cross,  as  the 
American,  Belgian,  French,  British  Blind  Fund.  There  are 
still  others  which  in  their  appeals  carry  letters  of  endorsement 
from  government  officials,  perhaps  acting  personally  though 
that  is  seldom  emphasized.  There  are  yet  others  which  have 
been  examined  as  to  their  business  methods,  though  not  as  to  the 
question  of  whether  they  are  duplicative  or  not,  by  the  Charity 
Organization  Society  of  New  York  and  still  others  which  are 
complete  free  lances.  In  a  situation  as  chaotic  as  that  it  is  not 
surprising  that  there  is  no  standard  practice. 

In  this  matter  one  should  preserve  a  comparative  point  of 
view.  It  is  not  proper  to  criticise  war  chests  in  general  because 
some  of  them  support  causes  of  questionable  value  or  even  ques- 
tionable practice,  for  those  causes  also  derive  money  from  cities 
where  there  are  no  war  chests — and  with  greater  impunity.     In 

20 


general  the  war  chests  command  larger  investigative  power  and 
almost  uniformly  make  more  serious  attempts  to  discover  the 
proper  line  of  action.  The  consequence  is  that  the  war  chest 
movement  has  a  very  distinct  tendency  to  diminish  the  support 
of  unworthy  and  duplicative  agencies.  This  tendency  will  un- 
doubtedly be  largely  stimulated  by  the  organization  of  a  Nation- 
al Association  of  War  Chests  which  is  mentioned  in  another 
part  of  this  report. 

The  most  common  practice  is  to  name  in  the  literature  the 
larger  organizations,  beginning  with  the  Red  Cross,  the  six 
Fosdick  agencies,  and  usually  the  Armenian  and  Syrian  Relief, 
and  then  to  add  the  statement  that  the  chest  will  also  lend 
support  to  any  other  organizations  which  the  trustees  may  de- 
cide are  worthy.  This  may  lead  to  contributions  to  an  almost 
innumerable  number  of  causes.  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  last  year  gave 
some  money  to  fifty-four  causes.  In  the  three  months,  April, 
May,  and  June  of  this  year  Columbus  appropriated  for  thirty 
causes.  In  six  months  Kenosha,  Wis.,  gave  to  twenty-three 
causes.  Even  leaving  out  of  account  the  many  local  agencies 
and  the  support  granted  to  war  savings  and  Liberty  bond  cam- 
paign committees  for  advertising  and  other  expenses,  the  total 
number  is  large,  though  by  no  means  so  large  as  that  in  cities 
which  have  no  war  chests. 

The  number  of  agencies  in  the  field  and  the  differences  in 
the  degree  of  endorsement  which  has  been  accorded  them  have 
led  many  people  to  fear  that  there  will  be  raids  upon  the  large 
aggregations  of  money  gathered  in  war  chest  cities.  To  meet 
this  danger  there  has  been  organized  on  the  one  hand  the 
National  Association  already  mentioned  and  there  have  been 
developed  in  some  cities  checks  upon  the  number  of  agencies. 
For  example,  Springfield,  Mass.,  has  a  provision  in  its  by-laws 
by  which  there  are  recognized  the  Red  Cross,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
K.  of  C,  and  the  Jewish  Welfare  League,  to  which  appropria- 
tions can  be  made  on  vote  of  the  majority  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees, and  they  may  contribute  "to  such  other  organizations  and 
agencies  recognized  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
as  are  engaged  in  general  war  relief  work  upon  the  affiiTaative 
votes  of  three-fourths  of  the  full  board  of  trustees.  In  cases 
of  emergency,  distress,  or  necessity  for  immediate  relief,  the 
trustees  shall  have  power  to  appropriate  and  expend  funds  for 
the  same  upon  the  affirmative  votes  of  three-fourths  of  the  full 
board  of  trustees."  Other  cities  have  included,  occasionally,  sim- 
ilar provisions  requiring  an  extraordinary  majority  in  order  to 
give  to  other  than  a  few  stated  agencies. 

On  the  whole  it  seems  to  me  that  the  situation  is  such  at 
the  present  time  that  the  Government  is  not  likely  to  call  new 
agencies  into  the  field  and  that  the  probabilities  of  the  develop- 
ment of  new  causes  of  worthy  character  and  large  importance 
are  slender.     It  seems  therefore  that  the  proper  policy  to  be 

21 


pursued  henceforth  is  to  require  the  budget  committee  to  survey 
the  field  carefully,  to  call  upon  all  who  wish  to  participate  to 
make  that  fact  known,  and  then  to  select  those  which  shall  share 
in  the  fund  and  publish  their  names  in  advance.  There  should 
be  no  question  of  the  inclusion  of  the  agencies  recognized  by 
the  Council  of  National  Defense  or  of  the  War  Department,  but 
beyond  that  point  a  good  deal  of  discretion  would  be  requisite. 
This  plan  would  preclude  absolutely  the  danger  of  raids  upon  the 
fund. 

This  is  perhaps  the  place  where  some  careful  consideration 
should  be  given  to  the  question  as  to  the  relations  between  the 
Red  Cross  and  the  war  chest.  The  Red  Cross  is  selected  because 
it  is  the  most  prominent  of  the  agencies  and  because  it  is  the 
only  one  which  has  conducted  a  drive  since  the  war  chest  move- 
ment became  general. 

The  whole  problem  of  the  attitude  of  the  Red  Cross  toward 
the  war  chest  movement  and  the  results  of  the  war  chest  upon 
the  Red  Cross  is  one  of  extraordinary  difficulty  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  factors  which  are  regarded  as  most  important  by 
the  Red  Cross  officials  cannot  be  dealt  with  statistically.  The 
objection  of  Red  Cross  officials  to  the  war  chest  movement 
springs  from  fear  lest  the  esprit  de  corps  of  the  organization 
might  be  impaired  and  an  alien  factor  might  be  introduced 
between  the  Red  Cross  and  the  people. 

It  seems  to  be  unquestionably  true,  both  from  personal  ob- 
servation and  in  view  of  statements  of  Red  Cross  officials,  that 
the  war  chest  movement  has  cut  down  the  amount  of  support 
of  the  Red  Cross  in  some  communities.  The  total  effect  it  has 
been  impossible  to  determine.  Indeed  figures  which  the  Red 
Cross  officials  were  kind  enough  to  show  me  in  a  confidential 
way  make  it  evident  that  it  is  not  yet  possible  for  the  Red  Cross 
itself  to  reach  a  final  conclusion  in  the  matter. 

The  reasons  for  the  cut-down  in  some  communities  are  in- 
volved. It  is  due  in  the  first  place  to  a  widespread  impression 
that  the  Red  Cross  has  a  budget.  Whether  or  not  it  has  what 
may  be  called  a  budget  is  not  readily  determinable,  since  one 
official  gave  complete  assurance  that  there  was  absolutely  none 
and  another  one  says :  "After  our  budget  had  been  determined  as 
nearly  as  was  practicable,"  etc.,  which  would  indicate  that  there 
was  some  sort  of  budget.  At  all  events  strange  ideas  are 
abroad  about  this  matter,  one  city  being  under  the  impression 
that  the  War  Department  fixed  the  amount  for  which  the  Red 
Cross  was  to  call  and  also  local  quotas!  It  has  been  impossible 
further  to  determine  whether  the  Red  Cross  quotas  amounted 
to  $100,000,000  in  the  aggregate  or  to  more  than  that  amount. 
High  Red  Cross  officials  said  they  thought  it  amounted  to  more, 
but  repeated  efforts  to  discover  exactly  what  the  facts  are  have 
been  unavailing.  Moreover  the  basis  of  determining  the  quotas 
is  not  entirely  clear.     It  is  described  thus  by  one  official : 

22 


"Our  method  in  determining  the  quotas  is  to  make  use  of  all 
existing  statistics  of  population  and  wealth  and  examine  all  the  quotas 
and  responses  of  communities  to  Liberty  Loan  and  Thrift  Stamp  cam- 
paigns. In  addition  we  load  our  figures  under  local  advice  where 
there  are  peculiar  elements  of  population  and  prosperity  to  consider. 
By  'loading'  I  mean  that  special  figures  are  given  weight  in  addition 
to  the  general  figures." 

Whether  it  is  true  or  not  the  impression  is  common  among 
war  chest  cities  that  one  of  the  elements  of  ''loading"  is  whether 
or  not  there  is  a  war  chest.  In  some  of  the  cities  of  New  York 
State  the  impression  was  deeply  grounded  that  there  had  been 
discrimination  in  the  matter  of  quotas  against  war  chest  cities. 

The  result,  it  seems  to  me,  is  that  the  whole  matter  is  con- 
fused largely  through  misunderstandings.  There  is  undoubted- 
ly on  the  one  hand  serious  misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  some 
Red  Cross  officials  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  war  chest 
movement,  and  there  is  a  misunderstanding  on  the  other  hand 
among  some  war  chest  cities  as  to  the  nature  and  methods  of 
financing  the  Red  Cross.  The  difficulty  is  not  due  to  any  lack 
of  desire  on  the  part  of  the  communities  to  do  their  utmost 
share  in  the  support  of  America's  greatest  humanitarian  effort, 
but  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  should  lack  understanding  of 
some  of  the  points  involved  in  view  of  the  difficulty  of  getting 
precise  official  information. 

Many  cities  on  the  other  hand  have  exceeded  their  quotas. 
Mr.  Davison  in  a  telegram  to  Mr.  James  R.  Garfield,  Lakes 
Division  Manager,  stated  that  "a  number  of  cities  where  war 
chest  drives  were  held  have  doubled  their  Red  Cross  quotas,*' 
and  at  the  same  time  called  upon  those  war  chest  cities  which 
had  not  exceeded  their  quotas  to  over-subscribe  to  the  extent  of 
sixty-five  per  cent,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  the  only  way  in 
which  they  could  do  their  full  share,  inasmuch  as  the  Red  Cross 
was  not  being  financed  by  the  drive  for  any  stated  period — so 
that  the  larger  the  amount  raised  the  longer  a  new  drive  would 
be  deferred.  As  indicated  elsewhere  in  this  report,  it  seems  to 
me  that  under  present  conditions  this  is  the  proper  practice  for 
cities  to  follow. 

The  results  of  personal  observation  cover  the  following 
cities : 

Salem,  Mass.,  was  given  a  quota  of  $40,000.  The  first  ap- 
propriation from  the  war  chest  was  $50,000  for  the  Red  Cross, 
which  was  not  necessarily  regarded  as  final. 

Lexington,  Mass.,  was  assigned  a  quota  of  $8,500,  which 
was  more  than  double  that  of  last  year.  Last  year  its  contribu- 
tion was  not  over  $5,000 ;  the  war  chest  has  appropriated  $17,- 
000.  That  is  double  this  year's  quota,  quadruple  last  year's,  and 
triple  last  year's  gift. 

Seymour,  Conn.,  appropriated  $25,000,  where  last  year  the 

23 


drive  produced  $30,000.  It  was  said  there  was  special  reason 
for  this,  and  it  may  be  that  the  appropriation  will  be  increased 
later,  though  there  is  no  information  on  that  topic. 

Toledo,  Ohio,  last  year  gave  $750,000  on  a  quota  of  $450,- 
000.  This  year  the  quota  was  advanced  to  $600,000,  but  on 
objection  was  reduced  to  $450,000.  That  amount  was  appro- 
priated. In  addition  the  war  chest  will  take  care  of  the  local 
Red  Cross  chapter  to  an  amount  which  is  estimated  to  be  from 
$350,000  to  $400,000,  whereas  last  year  the  chapter  had  only  its 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  $750,000.  This  means,  therefore,  that 
Toledo  is  spending  more  money  for  Red  Cross  purposes  than 
last  year. 

In  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  Red  Cross  called  for  $300,000  and 
that  amount  was  appropriated.  In  addition,  however,  the  local 
chapter  is  receiving  about  $20,000  a  month,  which  may  be  more 
or  less  according  to  current  needs.  The  Red  Cross  will  get 
more  for  all  purposes  than  it  did  last  year.  There  was  some 
fear  in  Columbus  that  the  war  chest  might  put  a  damper  upon 
the  local  work  of  the  chapter,  but  this  has  not  proved  to  be  the 
case.  . 

Dayton,  Ohio,  last  year  subscribed  $221,876.12.  There  was 
collected  $214,053.02,  the  unpaid  subscriptions  amounting  to 
$7,823.10.  Campaign  expenses,  for  local  purposes  only, 
amounted  to  $4,211.57  and  the  expense  of  collection  to  $1,592.45, 
making  a  total  expense  account  of  $5,804.02.  The  net  amount 
which  the  Red  Cross  received  last  year  therefore  was  $208,- 
249.10.  Twenty-five  per  cent,  of  that  amount  proved  insuffi- 
cient for  the  work  of  the  local  chapter.  This  year  the  war 
chest  appropriated  to  the  War  Fund  of  the  Red  Cross  $200,000 
and  to  the  local  chapter  $40,000,  which  means  a  larger  total  for 
Red  Cross  purposes  than  last  year. 

Detroit,  Mich.,  last  year  had  a  quota  of  $1,500,000  and 
raised  $2,250,000,  an  over-subscription  of  $750,000.  The  local 
chapter  had  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  this  amount.  This  year 
Detroit  had  the  same  quota  and  gave  that  amount  outright, 
none  being  retained  for  the  local  chapter.  That  amounts  to  an 
over-subscription  of  twenty-five  per  cent.  Besides,  the  plan  calls 
for  participation  of  the  war  agencies  pro  rata  in  the  over-sub- 
scription of  the  war  chest  goal  after  costs,  shrinkage,  etc.,  have 
been  determined.  Thus  the  National  Red  Cross  will  get  from 
$1,000,000  to  $1,500,000  more  than  last  year  and  in  addition 
the  local  chapter  is  to  have  $1,500,000.  Detroit,  therefore,  is 
devoting  a  great  deal  more  to  Red  Cross  purposes  this  year  than 
last. 

In  Hudson  Falls,  N.  Y.,  it  was  agreed  that  one-sixth  of  all 
that  was  raised  in  addition  to  the  minimum  amount  called  for 
by  the  war  chest  should  be  given  to  the  Red  Cross  in  addition 
to  its  quota.  Under  this  plan  the  Red  Cross  secured  more  than 
a  one  hundred  per  cent,  over-subscription. 

24 


Rochester,  N.  Y.,  incorporated  in  its  budget  a  provision  for 
an  over-subscription  which  will  net  the  Red  Cross  an  amount 
largely  in  excess  of  that  which  was  available  last  year. 

Utica,  N.  Y.,  had  a  quota  last  year  of  $160,000,  which  was 
later  reduced  to  $100,000,  $90,000  being  raised.  This  year  the 
quota  was  increased  to  $250,000,  which  was  met.  Thus  the 
Red  Cross  War  Fund  got  nearly  three  times  as  much  this  year 
as  last.  In  addition  they  plan  to  support  the  local  Red  Cross 
chapter  for  an  amount  which  may  reach  $150,000  and  will  be  a 
net  addition  to  what  Utica  did  for  the  Red  Cross  last  year. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  last  year  had  a  quota  of  $200,000  and 
raised  $342,000.  This  year  its  quota  was  increased  to  $300,- 
000,  which  was  appropriated.  In  addition  the  war  chest  sup- 
ports the  local  Red  Cross  in  an  amount  estimated  at  about  $200,- 
000.  The  total  appropriations  for  Red  Cross  purposes  will 
therefore  be  in  excess  of  last  year. 

Rome  and  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  have  both  had  their  quotas  in- 
creased from  approximately  $2.00  per  capita  to  $3.00  per  capita 
and  gave  in  accordance. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  met  its  quota  and  made  no  separate  pro- 
vision for  the  local  chapter.  How  its  subscription  compares 
with  last  year  I  do  not  know. 

The  Miami,  Ohio,  war  chest  gave  132%  of  its  quota  in  order 
to  conform  to  the  general  over-subscription  of  quotas  in  the 
Lakes  Division. 

Youngstown,  Ohio,  simply  met  its  quota  and  in  consequence 
gave  less  to  the  Red  Cross  War  Fund  than  last  year.  The  war 
chest  will  take  care  of  the  local  Red  Cross  chapter,  but  even  so 
there  is  some  doubt  as  to  whether  there  will  be  as  much  money 
devoted  to  Red  Cross  purposes  from  that  city  this  year  as  last. 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  recognizing  the  force  of  the  argument 
about  over-subscription,  made  an  extra  appropriation  which 
amounted  to  an  over-subscription  in  about  the  same  proportion 
as  was  the  case  in  other  communities  of  its  size. 

What  the  result  of  new  method  of  apportioning  production 
to  the  local  chapters  will  be  it  is  not  yet  possible  to  determine. 
If  this  relieves  them  of  a  financial  burden  which  is  not  promptly 
replaced  by  the  demands  due  to  the  development  of  the  Home 
Service,  it  may  be  that  some  cities  will  alter  their  practice. 
The  cities  mentioned  above  are  simply  a  haphazard  collection 
and  were  not  selected  on  any  principle  whatever.  They  furnish 
perhaps  a  fair  sample  of  war  chest  practice. 

Occasionally  it  is  said  that  local  chapters  are  embarrassed 
under  the  war  chest  plan.  Indeed  local  Red  Cross  officials  in 
one  or  two  divisions  have  written  to  that  effect.  An  effort  to 
check  up  this  statement  by  referring  through  correspondence 
to  several  officials  of  local  chapters  has  brought  vigorous  de- 
nials. In  almost  every  city  visited  an  effort  was  made  to  see 
personally  the  Red  Cross  chapter  officials  and  talk  over  the 

25 


matter  confidentially.  Not  more  than  one  or  two  wished  a 
return  to  the  old  practice.  A  few  of  them  admitted  some  em- 
barrassment because  of  the  necessity  of  turning  in  budgets  to 
a  war  chest  disbursement  committee.  The  great  majority,  on 
the  other  hand,  expressed  themselves  as  being  very  much  pleas- 
ed with  the  situation  and  as  being  relieved  of  one  of  their  most 
serious  burdens,  inasmuch  as  war  chests  made  it  possible  for 
them  to  devote  their  energies  to  the  industrial  production  and 
development  of  Home  Service  without  diversion  of  effort  in 
the  direction  of  raising  money.  None  reported  any  loss  in  in- 
terest or  slackening  in  work. 

The  conclusion  of  this  matter,  if  put  bluntly,  would  be 
that  no  candid  investigator  could  fail  to  become  convinced  that 
the  war  chests  are  unanimously  determined  to  support  the  Red 
Cross  in  any  effort  it  may  undertake  and  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  Red  Cross,  so  far  as  its  higher  officials,  at  least,  are 
concerned,  has  attempted  to  cooperate  with  the  war  chest  cities 
but  found  itself  embarrassed  by  the  introduction  into  a  broad 
general  scheme  of  a  new  and  unexpected  element.  As  time  goes 
on  the  situation  is  certain  to  clear.  The  policy  of  intimate  in- 
formation and  frank  contact  will  eliminate  most  of  the  troubles. 

The  Red  Cross,  however,  has  never  entertained  any  fear 
that  the  war  chest  plan  would  destroy  the  financial  support  of 
the  Red  Cross  if  generally  adopted.  They  regard  the  matter  as 
going  deeper  than  the  mere  garnering  of  money  and  have  some 
fears  lest  their  broad  plan  of  building  a  comprehensive  national 
organization  on  the  broadest  lines  might  be  interfered  with. 
They  have  laid  out  an  elaborate  and  what  one  of  their  officials 
frankly  called  an  idealistic  scheme  which  they  fear  the  war 
chest  may  have  a  tendency  to  disrupt.  It  is  not  possible  in  the 
space  available  to  deal  with  this  phase  of  the  situation.  In  any 
event  no  definitive  conclusion  could  be  set  forth  for  the  prob- 
lem is  one  of  opinion.  After  careful  study  of  the  question  the 
writer  has  come  to  believe  that  the  war  chest  has  not  proved 
and  is  not  likely  to  prove  a  serious  interference  with  the  Red 
Cross  program.  Whatever  modification  may  have  to  be  made 
in  the  scheme  of  things  outlined  by  the  Red  Cross  will  rise  from 
causes  which  produced  the  war  chest  movement  and  for  which 
the  war  chest  is,  therefore,  not  responsible. 

Red  Cross  Membership. 

The  problem  of  Red  Cross  membership  has  become  in  some 
instances  more  or  less  acute.  Here  again  careful  inquiry  de- 
velops the  fact  that  friction  is  occasioned  almost  entirely  by  the 
failure  to  understand  each  others'  point  of  view  rather  than  by 
any  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Red  Cross  to  be  captious  or  any 
wish  on  the  part  of  the  war  chest  cities  to  flout  the  Red  Cross. 

The  original  idea  current  among  war  chest  cities  was  that 
the  Red  Cross  would  welcome  having  enrolled  as  members  the 

26 


large  number  of  people  who  were  subscribers  to  the  war  chest, 
a  not  unnatural  notion,  since  the  contributors  to  the  first  Red 
Cross  War  Fund  were  enrolled  as  members  and  the  war  chests 
contributed  to  that  fund.  Therefore  Syracuse  and  other  cities 
provided  for  an  automatic  membership  and  simply  took  out  a 
dollar  membership  for  every  war  chest  subscriber.  It  devel- 
oped however  that  the  Red  Cross  objected  to  automatic  mem- 
berships on  the  ground  that  joining  the  organization  should  be 
an  expression  of  personal  interest  rather  than  a  financial  mat- 
ter. The  Red  Cross  wished  to  have  the  membership  help  to 
maintain  personal  contact  between  individuals  and  itself. 

After  the  attitude  of  the  Red  Cross  became  known  various 
plans  were  devised  to  obviate  the  trouble.  Syracuse,  for  ex- 
ample, at  the  time  of  its  second  war  chest  drive  had  the  solicitor 
after  taking  a  war  chest  subscription  offer  the  subscriber  an 
application  for  membership  in  the  Red  Cross,  to  be  paid  from 
war  chest  funds.  This  amounted  of  course  to  a  designation  of 
one  dollar  of  the  contribution  for  the  purpose  of  Red  Cross 
membership.  The  second  method  has  been  to  incorporate  in 
the  pledge  to  the  war  chest  a  statement  that  the  first  dollar  paid 
should  be  used  for  membership  in  he  American  Red  Cross,  a 
statement  which  could  be  crossed  out  by  persons  not  wishing  to 
join.  The  pledge  card  of  Sycamore,  Illinois,  contained  the 
statement  that: 

"It  is  understood  that  after  December  31,  1918,  $ per 

year  of  the  amount  hereby  pledged  shall  be  u&ed  in  payment  of  annual 
memberships  in  the  Red  Cross  for  the  persons  named  on  the  reverse 
side  of  this  card,  provided  my  annual  contribution  shall  be  not  less 
than  $2.00  for  each  person  named." 

What  the  attitude  of  the  Red  Cross  toward  these  methods 
may  be  is  not  known.  Whether  it  is  insistent  that  the  mem- 
bership drive  must  come  in  December  or  whether  communities 
may  suit  their  own  convenience  about  the  time  of  enrolling  mem- 
bers is  unascertained. 

Two  other  plans  have  been  developed,  however,  both  of 
which  provide  for  a  December  enrollment.  The  first  of  these 
excludes  the  Red  Cross  membership  entirely  from  the  war  chest 
and  allows  the  Red  Cross  to  stage  a  wholly  independent  drive  at 
that  time  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  a  matter  of  money,  but 
a  matter  entirely  of  membership,  and  that  the  money  is  a  purely 
incidental  concomitant.  This  plan  was  adopted  in  Dayton, 
Ohio,  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  Tarrytown,  N.  Y., 
Springfield,  Mass.,  Vevay,  Indiana,  and  perhaps  others.  It  has 
the  weakness  that  it  does  not  wholly  keep  the  pledge  with  regard 
to  prohibiting  all  other  solicitations  for  money.  While  a  dollar 
is  a  very  small  amount  for  many  people,  to  the  industrial  worker 
who  is  making  sacrificial  subscription  on  a  weekly  or  monthly 
basis  it  may  be  not  inconsiderable. 

27 


In  consequence  there  has  been  developed  the  plan  contem- 
plated in  Utica  by  which  all  war  chest  members  will  be  sent  a 
non-transferable  coupon,  good  for  a  one-dollar  membership  in 
the  Red  Cross.  The  Red  Cross  can  then  stage  its  membership 
drive  and  subscribers  can  either  turn  in  the  coupon  for  an 
annual  membership  or  put  more  money  with  it  according  to 
the  class  of  membership  they  desire.  They  may  destroy  the 
coupon  and  join  by  paying  money,  or  they  may  decline  to  join 
and  destroy  the  coupon.  This  plan  seems  on  the  whole  to  be  an 
admirable  one.  It  preserves  the  personal  contact  which  the 
Red  Cross  desires  to  maintain.  At  the  same  time  it  allows  the 
person  to  plan  at  one  time  his  giving  for  the  entire  year  and 
since  the  money  is  not  regarded  by  the  Red  Cross  as  the  vital 
factor  its  passage  through  the  war  chest  is  scarcely  an  objection. 

The  war  chest  in  every  case  should  be  particularly  careful 
to  see  to  it  that  it  provides  a  plan  in  this  matter  which  is 
satisfactory  to  the  Red  Cross. 

Local  Charities. 

A  minority  only,  it  is  safe  to  say,  are  taking  care  of  local 
charities  by  means  of  the  war  chest.  Of  those  reporting  on  this 
point,  fifty-six  do  not,  twelve  do,  and  eight  made  responses  that 
leave  one  in  doubt. 

The  reasons  for  including  them  are,  first  of  all,  the  fact 
that  it  emphasizes  the  single  campaign  idea  and  in  some  cities, 
as  for  example  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  after  the  war  chest  idea  began 
to  spread  to  the  public,  there  was  a  demand  that  the  charities 
should  be  included.  The  second  reason  is  that  these  local  char- 
ities have  a  tendency  in  the  press  of  war  financing  and  the  sup- 
porting of  war  relief  agencies  to  run  into  debt,  both  because  of 
increased  cost  of  operation  and  decreased  support  due  to  com- 
petition with  war  funds.  Their  unfortunate  financial  condi- 
tions are  often  therefore  traceable  directly  to  the  war.  It  seems 
unfortunate  that  permanent  institutions  should  be  burdened 
with  debt,  which  would  tend  to  cripple  their .  effectiveness  later. 
In  the  third  place,  many  of  these  are  engaged  in  war  work  to 
some  extent.  In  addition  to  the  activity  of  the  home  service 
department  of  the  Red  Cross,  many  charitable  organizations 
find  that  the  war  develops  greater  demands  upon  them  and 
many  hospitals  anticipate  a  good  deal  of  war  work.  Finally, 
local  charities  have  been  included  in  some  cases  with  the  specific 
end  in  view  of  educating  the  public.  In  such  cases  it  has  been 
done  as  part  of  a  deliberate  effort  to  break  down  prejudices, 
cliques,  and  create  a  broader  community  spirit.  In  one  parti- 
cular instance  where  it  was  admitted  that  the  inclusion  of  local 
charities  had  probably  reduced  the  amount  of  money  raised,  the 
men  in  charge  believed  that  it  was  worth  the  price  because  it 
had  cleared  up  an  absurd  situation  and  opened  the  way  for  bet- 
ter things  another  year. 

28 


Where  local  agencies  are  included,  the  support  accorded 
them  varies  widely,  both  in  extent  and  character.  Some  cities, 
as  for  example  Rochester,  include  the  local  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  the 
war  chest.  Others  include  only  purely  charitable  enterprises. 
In  Detroit  forty-two  local  organizations  were  included ;  in  Roch- 
ester thirty-six.  Cleveland  has  a  welfare  federation  which  in- 
cludes about  ninety  societies  of  which  only  sixty  participate  in 
the  funds.  The  welfare  federation  was  included  in  the  war 
chest.  These  facts  give  some  rough  notion  of  the  varieties 
and  number  of  causes  supported  in  different  communities. 

There  is  the  same  difference  in  the  character  of  the  support 
which  is  given.  For  example,  the  Rochester  war  chest  did  not 
take  care  of  the  deficits  of  the  societies.  The  inclusion  of  local 
agencies  was  regarded  as  more  or  less  of  an  experiment  and  it 
was  decided  to  see  them  through  this  year,  leaving  them  in  the 
same  financial  condition  at  its  close  as  at  the  beginning.  On 
the  other  hand,  Detroit  and  certain  other  cities  did  take  care  of 
the  deficits,  feeling  confident  that  the  plan  would  be  continued. 

Some  cities  forbade  the  charities  which  were  to  participate 
to  include  capital  expenditures,  allowing  only  current  expenses 
to  be  put  in  the  budget.  Other  cities,  on  the  contrary,  allowed 
certain  capital  expenditures  to  be  included.  Rochester  permits 
any  society  to  solicit  funds  during  the  year  for  capital  expendi- 
tures. In  Detroit,  however,  that  appears  to  be  regarded  as  not 
wholly  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  war  chest's  operation. 

Most  of  the  cities  which  provide  for  their  local  charities 
give  them,  not  the  full  amount  of  their  needs,  since  many  derive 
income  from  endowment  or  other  sources,  but  allow  them  to 
receive  from  the  war  chest  only  that  part  of  their  expenses  for 
which  they  would  have  been  obliged  to  solicit  the  public. 

There  are  certain  difficulties  and  dangers  involved  in  the 
inclusion  of  local  charities.  In  the  first  place  the  fiscal  years 
are  not  uniform  and  very  delicate  work  is  required  to  obviate 
the  difficulties  which  this  introduces.  In  the  second  place,  ex- 
perience has  shown  some  suspicion  and  dislike  of  these  among 
certain  elements  of  the  public.  Occasionally  there  has  been  a 
feeling  on  the  part  of  the  wage-earners  that  these  enterprises 
are  more  or  less  aristocratic  in  character,  adopting  a  somewhat 
superior  attitude  towards  those  from  whom  they  do  not  derive 
support.  This  fact  unquestionably  caused  friction  in  a  number 
of  cities.  In  some  of  them  criticisms  were  justifiable  and  it 
was  pointed  out  to  the  charitable  organizations  that  inasmuch 
as  their  support  had  been  democratized,  their  behavior  might 
well  undergo  alteration  in  the  same  direction,  and  it  is  said  that 
this  had  a  salutary  effect. 

In  the  third  place  the  inclusion  of  the  local  charities  has 
a  tendency  to  raise  religious  and  sectarian  questions.  This  is 
particularly  true  when  it  happens  that  a  hospital  of  one  religious 
denomination  is  wholly  supported  by  church  contributions  and 

29 


in  consequence  is  not  included  in  the  war  chest,  while  a  hospital 
of  another  denomination  has  been  accustomed  to  approach  the 
general  public  with  an  appeal  for  funds  and  consequently  is 
included  in  the  war  chest. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  argument  frequently  used  against 
the  war  chest  to  the  effect  that  it  destroys  the  clientele  of  sepa- 
rate organizations  has  more  cogency  when  applied  to  local  char- 
ities than  to  war  relief  funds.  Usually  these  agencies  have 
built  up  a  circle  of  individuals  interested  personally  and  finan- 
cially in  their  success.  If  they  are  included  in  the  war  chest, 
they  are  overshadowed  by  issues  so  much  larger  that  this  clien- 
tele has  a  tendency  to  be  disintegrated  and  the  personal  interest 
upon  which  they  must  depend  in  order  to  get  personal  work  is 
to  some  extent  destroyed.  There  is  the  risk  that  "local  charities 
after  being  carried  two  or  three  years  by  a  war  chest  might 
find  themselves  left  by  the  wayside,  should  the  war  chest  dis- 
solve after  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  In  the  case  of  the  smaller 
organizations  particularly,  their  publicity  and  financial  machin- 
ery would  be  very  likely  to  atrophy  during  a  long  period  of  war 
chest  financing.  This  is,  I  think,  a  danger  which  should  be 
guarded  against."  (Quoted  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Barry  C. 
Smith.) 

Finally,  it  has  been  urged  that  this  practice  has  a  tendency 
"to  take  the  war  out  of  war  chest",  by  putting  in  an  appeal 
which  cannot  be  called  purely  patriotic. 

Such  reasons  as  these  doubtless,  as  well  as  others,  induced 
the  Washington  State  Council  of  Defense  to  direct  that  "cam- 
paigns for  the  support  of  institutions  not  organized  primarily 
for  war  work  may  not  be  combined  with  appeals  for  war  work." 

Arguments  for  and  against  the  inclusion  of  local  charities 
are  so  evenly  balanced  that  it  seems  evident  that  the  wisdom 
of  inclusion  or  exclusion  depends  very  largely  upon  local  con- 
siderations. It  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  charities,  the 
religious  and  racial  distribution,  the  present  means  and  methods 
of  support,  and  the  amount  to  which  the  community  has  been 
educated  in  relation  to  them.  Certainly  no  other  feature  of  a 
war  chest  requires  as  much  careful  diplomacy  and  thorough 
preparatory  work  as  does  the  inclusion  of  local  charities.  It 
is  probably  fair  to  say  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  larger  the 
city  the  more  difficult  becomes  the  inclusion  and  the  more 
doubtful  the  wisdom  of  including  local  charities.  This,  how- 
ever, is  a  rule  that  is  not  absolutely  without  exception. 

In  case  inclusion  is  decided  upon,  experience  has  shown, 
first,  that  more  time  is  necessary  to  organize ;  second,  that  this 
matter  needs  particularly  frank  and  candid  treatment;  third 
that  the  local  agencies  should  have  itemized  budgets  presented 
to  the  budget  committee  and  that  the  amount  which  they  are  to 
receive  collectively  and  individually  should  be  published  well  in 
advance   of  the  campaign — whether  the  war  funds  are  budgeted 

30 


or  not ;  and  fourth,  disbursement  should  be  made  to  them  not  in 
a  lump  sum,  but  monthly,  in  accordance  with  their  needs  under 
the  budget.  Any  committee  which  considers  including  local 
charities  should  read  with  great  care  the  report  on  "Financial 
Federations"  published  by  the  American  Association  for  Organ- 
izing Charity,  130  East  22nd  Street,  New  York  City. 


31 


CHAPTER    TWO 


STRUCTURE  OF  THE  WAR  CHEST. 

It  is  not  possible  \^dthin  the  limits  of  this  report  to  give 
a  complete  account  of  the  various  types  of  permanent  and  cam- 
paign organizations  used  in  various  cities  where  the  war  chest 
has  been  adopted.  Instead,  an  effort  will  be  made  to  give  a 
sort  of  composite  picture  which  describes  no  particular  city's 
plan  accurately  but  which  represents,  so  far  as  may  be  possible, 
the  consensus  of  practice. 

Permanent  Organization. 

The  problem  of  satisfactorily  organizing  the  permanent 
structure  of  the  war  chest  and  at  the  same  time  creating  a 
temporary  campaign  organization  is  one  of  some  difficulty. 

To  begin  with  there  is  a  very  acute  problem  of  integration 
— to  make  such  arrangements  that  there  will  be  neither  over- 
lapping nor  gaps.  Probably  the  simplest  and  most  effective 
way  of  meeting  this  problem  is  to  put  the  destinies  of  the  war 
chest  in  the  hands  of  a  relatively  small  executive  committee 
whose  members  shall  be  the  chairmen  of  the  various  other  per- 
manent committees.  In  this  fashion  a  relatively  small  group 
can  get  together  and  decide  matters  of  policy.  This  is  virtually 
the  plan  adopted  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  Butte,  Montana,  and  Utica, 
N.  Y.  This  committee  should  have  general  charge  of  the  war 
chest  and  of  the  disbursement  of  the  funds,  ultimate  responsi- 
bility being  centered  in  this  body. 

Syracuse  carried  this  idea  still  further  and  planned  not 
only  to  integrate  the  work  of  the  war  chest  committees  effec- 
tively but  to  have  an  executive  committee  which  represented 
all  phases  of  community  war  work — Liberty  bonds,  food,  fuel, 
war  savings,  etc. — and  have  the  same  group  in  charge  of  vir- 
tually the  whole  range  of  civic  war  activities,  the  immediate 
sponsor  for  the  particular  activity  acting  as  chairman  wherever 
his  problem  was  under  immediate  consideration.  As  applied  to 
Connecticut,  this  would  mean  that  the  war  bureau  should  be  the 
executive  committee.  Whether  this  is  a  desirable  plan  for  the 
cities  of  this  state  depends  upon  local  considerations.  At  all 
events  it  would  be  unwise,  in  view  of  present  organization  of 
war  bureaus,  to  have  the  chairmanship  movable,  as  in  the  plan 
suggested  in  Syracuse. 

In  many  cases  the  executive  committee,  by  whatever  name 
known,  undertook  to  run  the  campaign.  More  frequently,  how- 
ever, that  task  was  assigned  to  a  committee  known  variously 

32 


as  an  organization  committee,  as  a  membership  committee,  as  a 
teams  committee,  as  a  campaign  committee,  or  as  a  war  cabinet. 
The  function  of  this  body  was  defined  by  Adrian,  Michigan,  "to 
have  charge  of  organizing  the  league  in  every  ward  and  town- 
ship of  the  county."  In  Springfield,  Mass.,  the  war  cabinet  was 
given  the  direction  of  the  drive. 

Ordinarily  one  member  of  this  committee,  usually  its  chair- 
man or  secretary,  was  designated  as  campaign  manager  or 
director.  The  committee  is  permanent  and  the  campaign  divi- 
sions belong  under  it.  Usually  the  heads  of  the  various  cam- 
paign divisions  comprise  the  membership  of  this  committee,  thus 
again  securing  proper  integration.  This  committee  should  be 
as  small  as  circumstances  will  permit  and  every  policy  in  rela- 
tion to  the  immediate  conduct  of  the  drive  should  be  left  in  its 
hands  by  the  executive  committee. 

The  third  of  the  permanent  committees  is  the  budget  com- 
mittee which  appears  in  almost  every  city  in  some  form  or 
under  some  name.  The  usual  problem  which  is  presented  to  it 
is  to  make  a  careful  survey  of  the  probable  demands  upon  the 
city  in  the  course  of  the  fiscal  period  adopted  by  the  war  chest 
and  on  the  basis  of  that,  after  allowing  for  costs,  shrinkage  and 
emergencies,  set  the  amount  for  which  the  war  chest  should 
call.  It  is  its  duty,  in  the  second  placfe,  under  normal  circum- 
stances, to  determine  the  distribution  of  that  amount  among  the 
various  classes  of  the  community  and  to  that  end  to  construct 
whatever  sliding  scale  may  be  published  in  order  to  distribute 
the  burden  equably. 

Occasionally  the  budget  committee  is  called  upon  to  exer- 
cise further  functions.  If  local  charities  are  included  it  is  al- 
most always  required,  and  should  always  be  required,  to  care- 
fully budget  the  local  charities  and  determine  in  advance - 
precisely  how  much  each  is  to  receive  from  the  war  chest. 
Wherever  the  disbursement  of  money  to  war  relief  organizations 
has  been  based  upon  a  budget  principle  this  committee  has  been 
given  the  task  of  determining  the  amounts  which  each  shall 
receive.  This  was  done  with  extraordinary  care  in  Rochester 
under  the  chairmanship  of  President  Rush  Rhees  of  Rochester 
University.  In  any  case  the  task  of  this  committee  is  one  of 
great  delicacy  and  difficulty  and  requires  time,  tact,  and  large 
ability. 

The  publicity  committee  needs  to  be  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion, because  it  should  begin  work  long  before  the  campaign 
and  must  continue  its  efforts  after  the  campaign  closes.  If  the 
drive  is  to  be  successful  public  opinion  must  be  educated.  If 
collections  are  to  be  successful  public  interest  must  be  maintain- 
ed after  the  campaign  is  over.  The  publicity  committee  has  so 
many  functions  that  it  must  inevitably  have  a  number  of  sub- 
committees. As  complete  a  sub-division  as  any  was  adopted  in 
Springfield,  Mass.,  where  there  were  the  following  sub-commit- 

33 


tees;  Banners  and  Buttons;  Display  Advertising  for  Newspa- 
pers; Educational,  Editorial,  News,  and  Color;  Factories;  Leaf- 
lets and  Instructions;  Letters  and  Circulars;  Posters  and  Car- 
toons ;  Pulpit  Messages ;  Signs  and  Sign  Boards ;  Special  Adver- 
tising; and  Stationery  and  Printing.  There  was  beside  a 
Speakers'  Bureau  which  had  subdivisions  for  theatres,  rallies, 
shops,  and  the  noon  lunches  of  the  workers. 

This  committee  should  be  kept  small  in  number  and  should 
regard  its  task  as  executive  in  character — the  determination  of 
policy  and  overseeing  its  execution  rather  than  the  execution  of 
the  policy  in  person.  It  holds  a  key  position,  because  the  idea 
of  the  war  chest  is  somewhat  complicated  and  only  the  most 
persistent  and  skillful  effort  will  adequately  instruct  the  public 
and  ensure  the  success  of  the  campaign. 

Particularly  important  is  the  speakers'  bureau,  which  needs 
to  be  very  carefully  organized.  Perhaps  this  was  worked  out 
as  thoroughly  as  anywhere  in  Springfield,  Ohio,  where  Mr.  John 
Dorst  arranged  and  conducted  601  meetings  between  the  5th  and 
27th  of  May,  the  highest  number  on  one  day  being  63.  His 
speakers  were  so  well  organized  in  a  comprehensive  directory 
that  they  were  notified  in  ample  time  and  the  chairmen  of 
meetings  also  were  notified  so  that  there  was  no  confusion. 
Careful  planning  of  that  character  means  a  great  deal  in  the 
direction  of  success  for  the  war  chest. 

One  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the  publicity  commit- 
tee, too  often  overlooked,  is  the  maintenance  of  an  information 
bureau  at  headquarters  during  the  campaign.  That  bureau 
should  be  kept  open  continuously,  in  charge  of  persons  who 
thoroughly  understand  the  whole  plan  and  can  answer  general 
questions  promptly  and  intelligently  and  tell  inquirers  exactly 
whom  to  approach  for  detailed  information  on  any  topic.  This 
saves  a  tremendous  amount  of  bother  by  the  avoidance  of  un- 
necessary interruptions  of  overworked  executive  officers.  It 
also  improves  the  temper  of  workers  who  dislike  to  be  referred 
from  pillar  to  post  and  back  again  for  information  on  some 
simple  point. 

Publicity. 

It  has  been  sa^d  that  the  success  or  failure  of  the  war 
chest  rests  upon  preparation,  personnel,  and  publicity.  Of 
these  publicity  is  not  the  least.  It  would  not  be  possible  in  the 
scope  of  this  report  to  give  anything  like  a  complete  account 
of  the  publicity  methods  which  have  been  used.  Cities  have 
shown  a  great  deal  of  originality  and  the  variations  in  principle 
and  method  are  striking. 

Some  cities,  for  example,  attempt  to  make  very  elaborate 
poster  displays.  On  the  other  hand,  Syracuse  used  no  posters 
save  only  a  few  Red  Cross  posters  with  war  chest  addenda. 
Some   attempt  to   create   a   slogan   and   centei*  a   tremendous 

34 


amount  of  advertising  about  that.  Others  utterly  neglect  it. 
Some  depend  upon  newspaper  advertisements,  others  upon  read- 
ing matter.     Every  city  has  its  own  pet  plan  of  publicity. 

Columbus,  0.,  originated  the  greatest  piece  of  mystery  ad- 
vertising which  has  yet  appeared  in  connection  with  the  war 
chest.  The  ''1  to  31"  appeal  is  said  to  have  been  thought  of 
while  a  party  was  en  route  to  Toronto  in  order  to  study  Cana- 
dian methods.  Certainly  it  was  a  tremendous  hit  from  an  ad- 
vertising point  of  view.  That  slogan  and  its  derivatives  have 
been  used  in  a  very  large  number  of  cities.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  despite  the  success  of  that  appeal  other  successful 
war  chest  cities  frown  upon  the  use  of  ''mystery"  or  "teaser" 
advertising. 

In  Albany  the  committee  in  charge  felt  that  the  war  chest 
idea  was  a  complicated  one  and  that  it  needed  a  great  deal  of 
educational  work  to  make  the  public  get  the  real  logic  of  the 
war  chest,  and  not  content  itself  with  simply  making  a  gift,  but 
make  a  subscription,  which  would  represent  the  maximum 
monthly  payment  possible.  This  is  a  great  undertaking,  and 
in  many  cities  it  has  been  evident  that  even  at  the  close  of  the 
campaign  there  were  many  people  who  did  not  have  a  clear 
idea  of  exactly  what  it  was  all  about.  In  Albany  therefore  the 
advertising  was  not  put  on  the  basis  of  a  "stunt",  but  a  complete 
program  was  laid  out,  all  timed  to  inform  the  public.  The 
four-minute  speeches  in  the  theatres,  newspaper  stories,  and 
advertising  were  all  dovetailed  in  together  on  each  day  in  order 
to  develop  the  idea  before  the  public  as  clearly  as  possible.  It 
was  built  around  the  notion  that  there  should  be  no  mystery 
and  that  there  should  be  no  threatening  and  no  "knocking." 
As  one  of  the  officials  in  the  war  chest  put  it  graphically,  "We 
did  not  use  black-jack  or  lead  pipe,  but  got  everybody  boosting." 

Rochester  had  a  series  of  half-page  advertisements  which 
were  run  in  the  newspapers  in  order  to  develop  the  idea  of  the 
war  chest.  The  titles  indicate  the  nature  of  the  education. 
Th  first  was  "How  Much?"  There  followed  in  order  "How 
Little?",  "Advice  to  Slackers",  "Stand  Up  and  Be  Counted", 
"Our  Lives,  Our  Fortunes,  and  Our  Sacred  Honor",  "The  Bud- 
get", "The  Schedule  of  Individual  Giving",  "The  Spirit  of  Giv- 
ing", "Let's  Quit  Kidding  Ourselves  and  Dig  In",  "Have  We  Got 
To  Give",  "Fix  the  Amount  Yourself",  "Your  Measure",  "Cam- 
paign Expenses",  "Are  You  Satisfied?" 

Because  of  the  size  of  the  problem,  Philadelphia  used 
a  great  deal  of  poster  advertising  and  some  of  these  were  ex- 
tremely well  done  and  unusually  effective. 

These  serve  as  reasonably  tj^pical  illustrations  of  the  meth- 
ods which  were  used  in  different  cities.  It  is  impossible  to 
make  any  categorical  statement  about  which  method  is  best. 
So  much  depends  on  the  advertising  genius  of  the  individual 
who  has  the  matter  in  charge,  that  no  system  can  be  universally 
applied. 

35 


Another  permanent  committee  of  great  importance  is  the 
supply  committee.  Its  function  is  to  determine  the  quantities 
of  material,  buttons,  window  cards,  and  whatever  else  may  be 
required,  and  to  honor  requisitions  from  the  publicity  committee 
for  materials  which  that  organization  may  need.  The  supply 
committee  should  also  undertake  the  task,  which  is  perhaps  the 
most  difficult  of  the  entire  campaign  to  achieve  without  friction, 
namely,  the  proper  distribution  of  supplies  to  the  workers  and 
to  the  subscribers.  This  requires  a  great  deal  of  foresight  and 
energy:  it  also  requires  space.  Usually  altogether  too  little 
attention  has  been  paid  to  the  physical  problem  involved.  For 
example,  in  one  large  city  all  supplies  were  given  out  through 
a  single  door,  the  consequence  being  that  workers  had  to  wait 
frequently  for  more  than  an  hour.  A  small  outlay  of  money  in 
erecting  temporary  shelves  and  railings,  and  the  organization  of 
an  adequate  clerical  force  will  contribute  as  few  other  things 
can  toward  improving  the  spirits  and  temper  of  workers. 

There  is  one  other  caution  to  this  committee.  It  is  aston- 
ishing how  nearly  unanimous  cities  are  in  reporting  that  they 
ran  short  of  this,  that,  or  the  other  piece  of  material.  It  is 
better  to  over-buy  even  at  the  expense  of  some  waste,  because 
nothing  checks  a  campaign  more  thoroughly  than  to  have  some 
vital  item  of  supply  missing.  Even  trivial  items  of  supply  are 
important,  for  human  nature  is  such  that  it  causes  a  great  deal 
of  complaint  if  people  have  to  subscribe  without  receiving  a 
badge  or  a  window  card. 

Another  permanent  committee  is  the  statistics  and  records 
committee,  sometimes  called  the  expense  and  audit  committee, 
or  office  management  committee,  all  these  names  being  employ- 
ed in  various  cities  to  designate  committees  with  virtually  the 
same  functions.  During  the  drive  the  statistics  committee  must 
organize  a  plan  for  rapidly  reporting  the  subscriptions  which 
are  taken,  for  auditing  the  statements  of  all  workers,  and  for 
tabulating  the  returns.  After  the  drive  its  responsibilities  ex- 
tend to  the  organization  of  an  office  force  and  the  installation 
of  a  system  of  bookkeeping  and  accounting  which  shall  be  ade- 
quate to  the  needs  of  the  community. 

Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  put  upon  the  necessity  for 
securing  men  of  the  largest  calibre  to  serve  on  the  executive 
committee  and  as  chairmen  of  the  other  permanent  committees. 
Such  men  cannot  be  secured  without  effort.  They  should  not 
be  asked  over  the  telephone  or  casually,  but  a  particular  appoint- 
ment should  be  made  and  the  scope  and  importance  of  the  task 
laid  before  them  with  a  view  to  having  them  devote  their  whole 
time  to  the  war  chest.  This  was  done  in  almost  all  the  impor- 
tant cities.  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  its  published  booklet  stated 
the  case  well.  'The  executive  committee,"  it  said,  "should 
consist  of  trained  executives  who  shall  be  able  to  set  aside  their 
regular    vocations    until    completion    of    the    campaign," — and 

36 


again,  ''We  recommend  concentrated  authority  in  small  commit- 
tees composed  of  members  conscious  of  their  responsibility  and 
fitted  by  training  and  experience  to  administer  the  work  placed 
in  their  hands." 

One  rather  important  matter  is  the  advisability  of  seeing 
to  it  that  each  committee  has  a  docket  for  each  meeting.  Insist- 
ence upon  this  will  ensure,  in  the  first  place,  a  tremendous 
saving  of  time  through  the  orderly  conduct  of  business  and,  in 
the  second  place,  will  make  it  possible  for  the  executive  com- 
mittee to  know  precisely  what  matters  are  before  its  subsidiary 
bodies  for  consideration,  and  thus  keep  an  effective  check  upon 
their  activities. 

The  further  the  war  chest  movement  develops  the  more  it 
comes  to  rely  upon  the  assistance  of  women  in  conducting  the 
campaigns.  In  a  great  many  instances  women  have  been  made 
the  chief  factor  in  the  house-to-house  work  and  often  have  had 
complete  charge  of  that  end  of  the  work.  Frequently,  too,  they 
have  been  used  in  making  up  the  census.  Again,  they  have 
undertaken  the  follow-up  campaign  for  new  subscriptions,  a 
woman  being  put  in  charge  of  a  small  district  in  which  she  is 
to  notice  and  report  those  who  move  away,  getting  the  new  ad- 
dresses if  possible,  and  to  solicit  newcomers  promptly,  thus 
being  responsible  for  an  area  which  she  is  to  keep  as  nearly  as 
possible  one  hundred  per  cent,  subscribed.  Frequently,  too, 
women  have  assisted  materially  in  office  work.  In  one  case, 
at  Albany,  there  was  a  woman's  parade  in  which  seventeen 
thousand  women  marched.  In  Albany,  also,  the  women  arrang- 
ed some  very  unusual  window  displays,  demonstrating  the  value 
and  character  of  the  work  of  the  several  agencies  which  the  war 
chest  proposed  to  assist  in  supporting. 

In  view  of  these  things  it  seems  obvious  that  the  wise  plan 
to  follow  is  to  have  the  women  represented  on  the  executive 
committee  and  also  on  the  campaign  committee,  if  the  two  are 
separate.  They  should  be  very  largely  in  charge  of  the  house- 
to-house  solicitation  and  should  possibly  have  the  prospect  cards 
of  the  wealthy  women  givers,  so  that  they  will  not  have  a  purely 
subsidiary  position,  but  will  have  opportunity  to  report  some 
gifts  of  considerable  size.  Experience  has  shown  them  to  be 
effective  solicitors. 

The  representation  of  Labor  in  the  government  of  the  war 
chest  is  another  item  which  should  never  be  overlooked.  There 
has  been  criticism  in  some  cities  to  the  effect  that  the  war  chest 
was  in  the  hands  of  bankers  and  manufacturers.  Occasionally 
in  consequence  there  have  been  reports  of  friction  and  in  one  or 
two  instances  labor  unions  have  organized  war  chests  of  their 
own  independently  and  have  caused  trouble  in  that  way.  Occa- 
sionally, too,  tactless  appropriations  for  local  purposes  have 
been  planned  which  caused  friction  to  develop — for  example, 
appropriations  for  local  Home  Guard  units  in  districts  where 

37 


that  body  was  believed  by  the  labor  element  to  be  chiefly  organ- 
ized to  prevent  or  put  down  strikes. 

It  should  never  be  lost  to  sight  that  the  workingmen  have 
almost  invariably  done  their  full  share,  that  their  support  has 
been  larger  than  anticipated  in  almost  every  instance,  tRat  the 
unions  have  shown  willingness  in  many  cities  to  make  collec- 
tions, and  that  workingmen  generally  have  signed  authoriza- 
tions requesting  their  employers  to  deduct  the  amounts  of  their 
pledges  from  their  pay  envelopes,  which  is  asking  a  great  deal 
from  some  points  of  view.  In  consideration  of  all  these  things 
it  is  obvious  that  care  should  be  taken  to  see  that  the  working- 
men  are  represented  upon  the  executive  committee  and  are 
given  a  voice  in  the  determination  of  policy,  the  management  of 
the  campaign,  and  the  disbursement  of  the  funds. 

Campaign  Organization. 

In  describing  the  campaign  organization  the  same  policy 
must  be  followed  as  in  describing  the  permanent  organization, 
namely,  to  draw  only  the  broadest  lines  of  common  practice, 
omitting  reference  for  the  most  part  to  features  individual  to 
particular  cities. 

There  is  a  growing  tendency  to  make  the  campaign  organ- 
ization permanent,  to  organize  the  workers  as  did  Albany  into 
a  ''Loyal  Legion",  or  as  did  Syracuse  into  a  "County  Defense 
League,"  etc.  This  is  done  in  order  to  create  a  more  or  less 
trained  body  of  workers  available  for  every  sort  of  war  propa- 
ganda. The  tendency,  also,  is  to  enlist  larger  and  larger  num- 
bers of  persons  and  at  the  same  time  to  organize  them  more 
thoroughly  and  instruct  them  more  completely,  making  the  task 
of  the  individual  solicitor  less  in  extent  but  more  intensive  in 
quality. 

The  first  item  in  the  conduct  of  the  campaign  is  the  organ- 
ization of  a  prospect  list.  This  is  done  in  most  cases  through 
a  prospect  committee.  In  several  cases,  as  indicated  elsewhere 
in  the  report,  it  was  done  through  a  census  committee  in  the 
first  instance  and  the  final  stages  were  put  in  the  hands  of  two 
other  committees,  namely,  a  transfer  committee  and  a  revision 
and  classification  committee;  the  function  of  the  census  com- 
mittee being  to  gather  material,  the  transfer  committee  having 
as  its  task  the  copying  to  individual  cards  of  the  names  which 
appear  on  the  census  sheets,  the  revision  and  classification  com- 
mittee having  as  its  problem  the  final  sorting  and  rating  of  the 
cards. 

Sometimes  even  when  there  is  no  census  the  rating  commit- 
tee is  separate  from  the  prospect  committee.  As  explained 
elsewhere,  the  work  of  the  rating  committee  in  a  city  of  any 

38 


size  must  be  very  largely  executive  in  character,  the  actual  work 
being  done  by  a  large  and  fluid  group,  though  the  responsibility 
for  organization  and  results  must  always  remain  with  the  rat- 
ing committee. 

When  the  prospect  cards  have  been  made  up  there  arises 
the  problem  of  distributing  them  among  the  teams.  The  first 
step  is  to  make  distribution  among  divisions — for  example,  put- 
ting all  the  cards  of  persons  to  be  solicited  at  their  homes  in 
one  division,  all  to  be  solicited  at  factories,  etc.,  in  another  divi- 
sion. Distribution  within  the  divisions  is  then  put  in  the  hands 
of  the  general  in  charge  who  is  to  operate  under  rules  devised 
by  the  executive  committee. 

Within  the  homes  division  it  appears  that  the  distribution 
is  almost  always  made  on  a  geographical  basis.  Sometimes 
there  is  added  to  this  the  attempt  to  make  the  district  equal 
either  in  number  of  persons,  in  size  of  area,  or  in  value  of  pros- 
pects. Occasionally  where  the  cards  are  distributed  without 
reference  to  any  of  these  plans,  individual  teams  are  given 
quotas,  or  the  contest  among  them  is  put  on  the  basis  of  the 
percentage  of  prospects  who  become  givers.  All  these  various 
plans  have  been  developed  with  a  view  to  creating  and  stimulat- 
ing competition. 

Within  the  industrial  division  the  cards  are  ordinarily 
divided  among  teams  by  factories.  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and 
Springfield,  Mass.,  developed  a  system  of  group  rating.  The 
cards  were  distributed  so  that  in  Rochester  all  the  teams  had 
relatively  equal  numbers  of  employees  to  see  and  relatively  equal 
prospect  values  as  based  upon  the  rating  with  reference  to  the 
aggregate   pay-roll. 

Frequently,  as  will  appear  later,  employees  are  classified 
rather  carefully  and  distribution  is  made  according  as  they  are 
industrial  employees,  public  employees,  utility  employees,  etc. 

The  most  critical  problem  comes  when  the  effort  is  made 
to  assign  the  cards  of  the  so-called  individual  subscribers.  This 
has  been  achieved  in  great  numbers  of  ways.  The  first  method 
is  by  making  very  careful  classification  of  vocations,  giving  all 
physicians  to  one  team,  all  clergy  to  another,  all  undertakers  to 
another,  all  lawyers  to  another,  etc.  Where  any  vocation  has 
an  unusually  large  number  it  is  divided,  merchants  being  divid- 
ed, for  example,  into  dry-goods  merchants,  grocery  merchants, 
etc.  Such  a  method  of  distribution  of  the  individual  prospect 
cards  is  relatively  simple  if  the  census  has  been  carefully  made 
or  if  there  is  an  up-to-date  classified  directory  by  which  one'  can 
speedily  sort  out  all  the  jewelers  or  all  the  plumbers,  etc.  Where 
this  is  done  however  it  means  that  the  team  competition  must 
be  based  upon  percentage  of  prospects  reached,  or  attainment  of 
a  group  quota,  and  not  upon  either  the  number  of  subscribers 
or  amounts  of  subscriptions. 


A  second  method  of  distributing  these  cards  is  to  assign 
them  geographically.  This  was  done  in  Youngstown,  Ohio.  All 
the  individual  subscribers  in  one  block  were  given  to  one  team. 
On  the  whole  this  method,  though  used  by  many  cities,  is  one  not 
entirely  advisable.  It  develops  neither  the  group  stimulus  of 
the  method  immediately  preceding  nor  does  it  give  equal  num- 
bers or  equal  values  of  prospects.  The  competition  must  be 
based,  therefore,  as  it  was  in  Youngstown  on  the  percentage 
of  prospects  actually  seen  irrespective  of  results. 

A  third  method  is  to  assign  the  cards  to  teams  arbitrarily 
without  reference  to  location  or  any  other  consideration  save 
their  prospective  value,  making  an  attempt  to  see  that  each 
team  has  prospect  cards  whose  totals  are  virtually  equal. 

A  fourth  method  is  to  compile  a  list  of  the  prospects  and 
make  them  available  to  team  captains  or  entire  teams  and  allow 
them  after  scrutinizing  the  list  to  put  in  requisitions  for  such 
cards  as  they  desire  with  the  statement  of  the  reasons.  On  the 
basis  of  these  requisitions,  which  are  presumed  to  be  made  in 
the  belief  that  the  team  can  advantageously  approach  the  desig- 
nated prospect,  the  assignment  of  cards  is  made.  Of  course 
some  names  will  be  requisitioned  by  many  teams.  In  such 
cases  the  committee  must  decide  which  has  showTi  the  better 
reason  for  desiring  a  given  name.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
cards  will  not  be  requisitioned  at  all.  These  should  be  assigned 
by  the  committee  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  number  and  value  of 
cards  which  the  team  already  has,  unrequisitioned  cards  being 
used  as  a  reservoir  to  ensure  each  team  roughly  an  equal  num- 
ber and  an  equal  value  of  prospects. 

Inevitably  solicitors  will  wish  to  ''swap"  cards  no  matter 
how  carefully  assignments  may  be  made.  Care  must  be  used, 
if  a  master  list  is  maintained,  to  see  that  these  cards  are  not 
exchanged  without  proper  record  of  the  transaction.  Else  it 
will  be  impossible  to  trace  them.  For  this  purpose  Springfield, 
Mass.,  issued  a  card  control  book  which  was  put  in  the  hands 
of  the  secretary  of  the  team,  members  of  teams  being  allowed 
to  exchange  prospect  cards  only  at  the  noon  lunch  and  only  when 
the  secretary  of  the  team  had  noted  the  transaction  properly,  in 
order  to  make  any  necessary  change  in  the  master  file.  Ex- 
changes between  members  of  the  same  team  are  relatively  sim- 
ple, but  exchanges  between  different  teams  must  be  noted  at 
headquarters. 

Some  solicitors  will  fail  to  reach  people  whom  others  might 
reach.  The  personalities  of  solicitors  are  so  various  that  it  is 
impossible  to  prevent  many  refusals  which  new  approaches 
might  convert  into  subscriptions.  Certain  individuals,  more- 
over, will  give  too  little  and  will  need  to  be  re-interviewed  in 
order  to  remind  them  of  their  responsibilities  and  secure  gifts 
more  in  accord  with  them.     This  involves  the  problem  of  re- 

40 


assignment,  one  which  should  not  be  left  for  solution  in  im- 
promptu fashion  but  carefully  provided  for  in  advance  of  the 
campaign.  Rochester  dealt  with  this  by  passing  around, 
toward  the  last  of  the  campaign,  lists  of  persons  who  had 
subscribed  small  amounts  or  had  refused  to  subscribe  and  allow- 
ed teams  to  requisition  names  for  re-canvass.  Salem,  Mass., 
had  this  matter  taken  care  of  by  each  captain  as  the  prospect 
cards  came  back  either  with  no  pledge  or  with  a  pledge  that  was 
clearly  less  than  the  proper  amount.  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  organized 
a  special  committee  to  handle  the  matter.  Springfield,  Mass., 
used  its  original  revision  and  classification  committee  which 
studied  the  subscription  file  and  the  refusal  file  with  a  view  to 
determining  whether  it  was  advisable  to  re-assign  cards  to  new 
solicitors  who  might  make  a  more  successful  approach. 

The  conclusion  reached  from  a  study  of  this  problem  is  that 
the  re-assignment  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  original  rating 
committee  because  it  is  most  familiar  with  the  problem  and 
because  it  can  anticipate  events.  The  members  of  this  commit- 
tee should  not  attempt  to  make  the  re-solicitations  themselves 
but  should  limit  themselves  in  the  course  of  the  campaign  to  mak- 
ing re-assignments.  But  it  would  frequently  be  advisable  for 
them  to  be  permitted  to  assign  these  names  at  their  discretion 
entirely,  not  limiting  them  to  members  of  teams  but  simply 
letting  them  use  their  best  judgment  as  to  the  most  effective 
way  of  producing  desired  results. 


Overlapping. 

In  every  intensive  campaign  there  arises  the  problem  of 
dealing  with  duplication  and  overlapping  in  the  work  of  solicita- 
tion. 

A  number  of  cities  make  no  effort  to  avoid  this.  Meriden, 
for  example,  had  the  factory  and  business  solicitation  first  and 
everyone  subscribing  at  his  place  of  employment  was  given  a 
special  receipt  card  which  he  was  supposed  to  leave  at  his  home. 
Later  the  canvassers  of  the  homes  division  went  out  with  the 
census  cards  as  prospect  cards  and  solicited  at  the  homes.  When 
a  receipt  card  was  presented  the  census  card  was  marked  'T" 
against  that  name,  which  was  the  symbol  for  a  factory  pledge. 
When  no  receipt  card  was  presented  the  persons  were  solicited 
and  the  names  marked  "HP"  for  home  pledge.  The  idea  was 
that  the  solicitor  should  account  for  every  name  on  the  census 
card  before  the  campaign  was  over.  Torrington,  also  employed 
this  method.  As  is  brought  out  elsewhere,  this  is  a  thorough 
but  somewhat  slow  method  for  communities  of  large  size.  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.,  in  like  manner  allowed  the  homes  division  to  over- 
lap without  making  any  particular  effort  to  prevent  double  so- 
licitation. 

41 


Cleveland  met  this  problem  by  having  a  form  letter  which 
read : 

"The  campaign  committee  has  just  made  official  assignment  of 
names  to  be  solicited  for  contributions  to  Cleveland's  War  Fund  quota. 
Your  name  has  been  assigned  to  me.  In  order  to  conserve  the  time 
of  the  men  working  for  our  various  teams  and  to  avoid  duplication  of 
work,  this  letter  has  been  prepared  by  the  campaign  committee  and 
each  team  worker  has  been  requested  to  mail  a  copy  of  it  to  various 
individuals  and  business  interests  assigned  to  him.  I  shall,  therefore, 
take  pleasure  in  calling  upon  you  during  the  week  of  the  campaign  and 
trust  you  will  hold  your  subscription  for  me." 

Each  worker  sent  a  copy  of  the  letter  to  every  one  assigned  to 
him  so  that  while  the  individual  might  be  called  upon  by  another 
solicitor  he  would  be  in  no  doubt  to  whom  his  solicitation  belong- 
ed, and  serious  overlapping  and  cross-solicitation  was  avoided. 

A  common  device,  employed  in  Philadelphia,  for  example, 
is  to  have  the  card  soliciation  take  place  in  the  early  part  of  the 
week  and  the  house-to-house  solicitation  after  the  card  campaign 
is  completed.  Under  this  plan  the  people  who  have  already 
subscribed  may  have  window  signs  up  so  that  the  solicitor  can 
readily  avoid  duplication  of  effort.  There  is  however  one  dif- 
ficulty in  this  method,  namely,  that  one  member  of  the  house 
may  have  subscribed  at  his  place  of  employment  and  put  up 
the  card  while  other  members  have  been  missed.  Thus  the 
window  card  may  serve  as  a  preventative  of  their  being  solicited 
at  all. 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  avoided  cross-solicitation  by  making  out 
"stop  cards"  instructing  the  solicitor  in  the  geographical  sec- 
tion whom  not  to  see. 

Still  another  plan  was  devised  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  used 
in  other  Ohio  cities,  namely,  to  check  on  the  census  cards  before 
the  campaign  those  who  were  to  be  seen  at  their  homes.  These 
were  readily  sorted  since  they  were  for  persons  who  had  no 
business  addresses  but  who  were  nevertheless  employed,  such 
as  chauffeurs,  maids,  etc.  All  others,  i.  e.,  those  who  were  to  be 
seen  at  their  places  of  business,  were  left  unchecked,  and  a 
booklet  was  printed  containing  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  to 
be  approached  by  the  individual  subscribers  division.  The 
homes  division  solicited  only  those  whose  names  were  checked 
on  the  census  cards.  The  factories  division  and  the  other  di- 
visions which  went  for  groups  avoided  cross-solicitation  by  ref- 
erence to  the  pamphlet  list.  It  may  be  suggested  that  this  is 
not  a  very  thorough-going  or  simple  manner  of  preventing  cross- 
solicitation  as  between  the  individual  subscribers  division  and 
the  factories  division,  though  it  is  effective  as  between  the 
homes  division  and  all  others. 

York,  Pa.,  avoided  overlapping  by  publishing  certain  class- 
es which  were  to  be  avoided,  as  lawyers,  doctors,  the  poor- 
house,  lodges,  women,  etc. 

42 


Of  course  the  most  certain  and  complete  method  of  avoid- 
ing cross-solicitation  and  conflict  is  to  have  a  separate  prospect 
card  for  every  individual  as  did  Springfield,  Mass. 

Team  Structure. 

The  properly  organized  team  consists  of  a  captain,  and  in  a 
big  drive  usually  also  of  a  secretary  or  auditor,  and  a  number  of 
lieutenants,  or  whatever  the  workers  may  be  called.  In  a  well- 
planned  drive  the  captain  should  not  do  much  of  the  work  of 
solicitation  himself  but  should  be  an  overseer  of  the  work  of  his 
team,  in  a  position  to  direct  and  help  his  men  and  to  convey  to 
them  the  orders  from  higher  campaign  officers.  All  orders  to 
workers  should  be  transmitted  through  him;  he  should  be  the 
spokesman  to  and  for  his  men.  He  should  be  thoroughly  in- 
formed so  that  he  may  answer  questions  and  he  ought  to  be  a 
source  of  inspiration  and  encouragement,  keeping  a  check  on 
what  each  individual  is  doing  and  seeing  to  it  that  he  does  not 
fall  down.  The  captains'  manual  published  by  Cleveland  and 
Indianapolis  called  upon  the  men  who  assumed  that  responsi- 
bility to  devote  their  whole  time  between  nine  a.  m.  and  four 
p.  m.  exclusively  to  the  work  of  the  campaign. 

The  team  secretary  is  usually  the  active  man.  The  cap- 
tain needs  to  be  in  one  place  where  he  can  be  readily  found  and 
should  be  freed  from  clerical  work.  The  team  secretary  is  in 
the  position  of  the  captain's  adjutant.  He  should  have  posses- 
sion of  the  card  control  book,  should  check  over  the  returns  with 
prospect  cards,  calling  important  cases  to  his  captain's  atten- 
tion, should  audit  the  reports  of  the  individual  workers,  and  in 
general  should  do  whatever  is  clerical  in  character. 

The  team  itself  may  be  of  any  convenient  size.  If  there 
is  thorough  organization  with  a  captain  and  secretary  there  is 
no  reason  why  the  team  should  not  be  fairly  large  with  fifteen 
or  twenty  members.  Where  there  is  less  thorough  organiza- 
tion with  only  a  captain,  the  team  should  be  small,  certainly 
with  not  over  eight  or  nine  members. 

If  success  is  to  be  achieved  there  must  be  discipline.  It 
is  important  therefore  to  carefully  instruct  the  workers  to  go 
first  and  always  to  the  captain  with  questions  and  to  take  orders 
from  no  one  else.  Toledo  carried  this  further  and  insisted  that 
verbal  orders  should  not  be  given  or  received,  but  provided 
blanks  after  the  fashion  of  telegraph  blanks  on  which  all  or- 
ders were  to  be  written. 

It  is  equally  important  that  the  captain  should  at  all  times 
be  able  to  get  in  touch  with  his  workers  and  that  majors, 
colonels,  or  generals  should  be  able  to  reach  their  respective 
captains.  To  that  end  a  number  of  cities  have  worked  out 
regular  directory  forms.  For  example,  Coshocton,  Ohio,  had 
one  form  to  cover  the  township  organization,  another  for  the 

43 


homes  division,  etc.,  showing  the  names,  addresses,  and  'phone 
numbers.  The  campaign  manager  should  have  a  similar  direc- 
tory. All  these  ought  to  be  made  up  under  two  arrangements : 
first,  in  alphabetical  order  and,  second,  under  the  "military" 
plan. 

In  many  districts  under  the  drive  system  the  practice  has 
developed  of  having  separate  teams  for  the  various  racial  groups 
within  the  community.  This  plan  has  occasionally  been  followed 
in  war  chest  cities.  Generally  speaking,  it  has  not  been  adopted 
and  largely  for  two  reasons;  first,  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
organization  of  the  campaign  ordinarily  does  not  facilitate  it, 
and,  secondly,  because  of  the  fact  that  an  effort  is  made  to  make 
the  campaign  a  strongly  American  propaganda  and  it  is  desired 
to  discourage  the  use  of  Italian  teams,  Irish  teams,  or  any  other 
brand  of  team  which  will  not  carry  a  strictly  American  impli- 
cation. 

There  is,  however,  one  phase  of  this  matter  that  should  not 
be  overlooked  and  that  is  that  in  taking  the  census  it  is  necessary 
to  use,  if  not  racial  teams,  at  least  racial  auxiliaries  if  the  names 
are  to  be  gotten  accurately ;  it  is  necessary,  in  the  second  place, 
if  persons  of  foreign  birth  are  to  be  rated,  that  individuals  ac- 
quainted with  their  circumstances  should  be  used  in  making  up 
prospect  cards;  and,  finally,  in  some  cases  teams  will  need  to 
have  interpreters,  the  solicitation  being  made  by  two  people,  one 
of  them  acting  as  interpreter. 

Check  up  on  Workers. 

For  the  effective  control  of  a  campaign  there  must  be  an 
opportunity  to  check  up  what  the  workers  are  achieving.  This 
is  essential,  also,  to  proper  discipline  and  is  a  problem  to  which 
relatively  few  cities  have  given  adequate  consideration. 

Youngstown,  Ohio,  by  means  of  its  peculiar  prospect  card, 
which  carried  not  one  but  sixty  names  and  which  had  a  space 
to  indicate  after  each  name  what  had  been  done  with  it,  made 
it  possible  for  the  captain  to  see  each  day,  almost  at  a  glance, 
how  much  each  one  of  his  workers  had  done.  This  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  spur  them  on,  to  give  them  aid  or  to  do  what- 
ever was  needful.  The  workers  were  further  stimulated  by 
receiving  a  100%  button  as  soon  as  all  the  names  on  the  pros- 
pect card  had  been  accounted  for,  and  whenever  all  the  names 
assigned  to  one  team  had  been  reported  upon,  that  team  was 
given  a  100%  flag. 

A  project  sketched  out  in  Syracuse,  though  whether  de- 
veloped to  completion  I  do  not  know,  was  to  have  a  series  of 
charts.  This  idea,  carried  to  its  logical  conclusion,  would  re- 
sult in  a  system  something  as  follows.  The  war  cabinet  or 
campaign  manager  would  have  a  chart  showing  the  various 
divisions,  the  number  of  cards  assigned  to  each  division,  and 

44 


the  total  amount  of  the  prospect  cards  assigned  to  each.  At 
the  close  of  the  diay,  on  the  basis  of  the  returns,  the  total  num- 
ber of  pledges  and  the  total  amount  from  each  division  should 
be  entered,  as  well  as  the  percentage  of  the  expected  totals  which 
they  represented.  This  would  allow  the  manager  to  see  how  each 
division  was  measuring  up  to  its  responsibilities  as  a  whole. 
The  head  of  each  division,  in  turn,  would  have  a  similar  chart 
showing  the  total  number  of  cards  and  the  total  amount  of  pros- 
pects in  the  hands  of  each  team.  At  the  close  of  the  day,  on 
the  basis  of  the  returns,  it  could  be  filled  out  in  exactly  the 
same  manner  to  show  him  how  each  team  was  meeting  its  re- 
sponsibilities, where  encouragement  was  necessary,  where  stim- 
ulus was  requisite,  etc.  In  similar  manner  each  captain  would 
have  a  chart  presenting  the  same  data  for  the  members  of  his 
team,  which  could  be  prepared  for  him  by  the  team  secretary 
or  auditor. 

This  plan  gives  a  complete  check  from  the  top  to  the  bottom 
showing  each  executive  officer  in  turn  where  weaknesses  have 
developed  and  locating  the  responsibility  exactly.  It  has  an 
advantage  beyond  simply  making  it  possible  to  bolster  weak- 
nesses, for  the  very  fact  that  the  workers  know  there  is  such 
a  chart  makes  them  appreciate  their  responsibilities  and  spurs 
them  on.  Springfield,  Mass.,  had  a  check-up  system  through 
its  card  control  books  in  the  hands  of  regimental  secretaries 
and  through  its  file  of  master  cards  which  were  arranged  alpha- 
betically by  classes.  These  master  cards  were  carbon  duplicates 
of  the  prospect  cards  and  were  kept  in  what  was  known  as  file 
No.  1.  File  No.  2  consisted  of  the  original  of  the  prospect  cards, 
when  returned  with  a  pledge  card  attached,  and  sorted  into 
boxes  which  represented  the  teams.  File  No.  3  was  made  up 
of  original  prospect  cards  of  those  who  refused  to  make  any 
subscription.  Thus  it  was  possible  for  team  secretaries  to  see 
what  workers  had  achieved  and  also  for  the  revision  and  class- 
ification committees  to  make  reassignments. 

The  ideal  system  would,  perhaps,  be  a  combination  of  the 
chart  system  described  above  and  the  method  employed  in 
Springfield.  Other  cities  have  developed  other  plans,  some  of 
them  based  on  a  review  by  the  captain  of  the  census  card  for 
his  district,  but  in  general  they  do  not  have  the  features  essen- 
tial to  building  a  simple  and  smooth-running  machine. 

100%  Organization. 

The  esprit  de  corps  of  the  campaign  organization  depends 
on  the  completeness  of  its  integration,  upon  the  discipline  main- 
tained, upon  the  thoroughness  with  which  it  is  checked  up,  and, 
lastly,  upon  its  enthusiasm  and  conviction.  One  must  recognize 
the  fact  that  an  organization  of  this  kind  is  essentially  a  body 
of  salesmen  and  the  first  requisite  of  a  salesman  is  that  he 

45 


shall  believe  in  his  own  goods.  With  the  intention  of  develop- 
ing a  body  of  workers  convinced  of  the  value  and  wisdom  of 
the  plans  they  are  trying  to  execute,  several  cities,  among  them 
Albany,  Cleveland,  Indianapolis,  and  Syracuse,  made  an  effort 
to  have  a  100%  organization,  that  is,  to  have  every  solicitor 
himself  a  subscriber  to  a  sacrificial  extent — in  accordance  with 
the  published  schedules,  if  possible — before  he  went  out  to  ask 
others  to  subscribe.  In  Syracuse  the  reports  on  the  first  night 
had  reference  solely  to  the  subscriptions  by  the  solicitors  them- 
selves. The  result  of  this  plan  is  to  give  an  organization  which 
is  committed  to  the  idea,  and  fully  committed.  It  weeds  out 
the  faint-hearted,  the  half-convinced,  and  gives  the  solicitor  an 
approach  which  nothing  else  can  do. 

Badges. 

Another  important  point  to  bear  in  mind  is  to  see  to  it 
that  the  solicitors  have  proper  badges.  As  one  writes  about  it, 
it  seems  a  very  trifling  point,  but  experience  has  demonstrated 
that  there  is  a  great  psychological  effect  in  a  badge.  Albany 
used  large  pins  which  were  numbered  and  had  a  space  in  which 
draftsmen  printed  the  name  and  title  of  the  worker.  Each  pin 
was  recorded  very  carefully  with  the  thought  of  impressing 
the  matter  on  the  workers.  Much  the  same  thing  was  done  in 
Syracuse  and  Rochester,  with  similar  results.  The  pins  were 
prized,  they  gave  the  solicitors  recognition  for  their  work,  made 
them  readily  recognizable,  and  thus  avoided  opportunity  for 
fraud  on  the  part  of  impostors.  These  and  other  cities  testi- 
fied that  the  badge  became  a  very  strong  feature  of  the  cam- 
paigns. 

Campaign  Divisions. 

In  the  organization  of  campaign  divisions,  the  first  is  the 
individual  subscribers  group.  This  varies  in  size  in  accordance 
with  its  inclusiveness.  Sometimes  it  includes  all  those  who  are 
to  be  solicited  individually  and  not  as  factory  or  other  groups 
or  in  the  home.  Sometimes  it  is  a  relatively  small  group  and 
persons  ordinarily  included  are  differentiated  into  other  divi- 
sions. For  example,  a  number  of  cities  including  Akron  and 
Youngstown,  Ohio,  and  Rome,  N.  Y.,  had  a  special  division  for 
corporations,  which  made  it  its  sole  business  to  get  subscriptions 
from  boards  of  directors. 

No  standard  has  developed  with  regard  to  the  solicitation  of 
corporations.  Some  cities  put  a  good  deal  of  emphasis  upon  this 
feature  of  their  campaigns.  In  one  prominent  instance  it  is  said 
that  about  45%  of  the  total  amount  of  the  war  chest  was  con- 
tributed by  corporations.  On  the  other  hand,  a  number  of  cities 
do  not  countenance  this  sort  of  solicitation,  usually  upon  grounds 
which  when  analyzed  come  back  to  one  main  reason,  namely  that 

46 


the  solicitation  of  corporations  in  some  instances  amounts  to  a 
double  solicitation  and  in  other  instances  gives  individuals  op- 
portunity to  hide  behind  a  group  and  dodge  their  personal  re- 
sponsibilities. Some  communities  on  this  ground  have  made  a 
distinction  between  partnerships  and  corporations  and  have  so- 
licited corporations  but  not  partnerships,  calling  on  the  imper- 
sonal bodies  to  give  but  not  asking  people  who  can  readily  be 
reached  as  individuals  to  subscribe  as  business  firms. 

A  prominent  instance  of  refusal  to  solicit  corporations  is 
Detroit,  which  went  on  the  assumption  that  it  might  permit 
some  persons  to  escape  their  obligations.  Those  in  charge  of  the 
war  chest  allowed  corporations  to  make  subscriptions  unsolic- 
ited and  their  subscriptions  amounted  in  all  to  about  $300,000, 
relatively  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  total.  Detroit  did, 
however,  substitute  for  this  a  request  that  the  corporation 
should  underwrite  or  guarantee  the  pledges  of  their  workmen. 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  like  manner  laid  particular  emphasis  upon 
not  soliciting  corporation  gifts  but  insisted  that  "individual 
gift"  should  be  the  keynote  of  the  campaign.  In  one  or  two 
cities  a  distinction  was  made  between  corporations  which  were 
owned  within  the  area  of  the  war  chest  and  those  which  were 
called  ''foreign  corporations."  There  was  no  solicitation  of 
those  whose  owners  lived  within  the  district  and  could  be  reach- 
ed individually,  but  solicitation  was  made  of  the  foreign-owned 
corporations  which  is  was  felt  owed  something  as  entities  to  the 
community.  Some  cities  have  changed  their  minds  on  this  im- 
portant topic  and  one  or  two  which  did  not  take  corporation 
subscriptions  have  now  decided  that  it  would  have  been  better 
to  have  done  so. 

By  far  the  larger  proportion  of  the  war  chests  did  ask  cor- 
porations to  make  subscriptions.  It  was  estimated  in  Spring- 
field, Ohio,  that  the  corporations  ought  to  produce  30%  of  the 
total  gift.  Other  cities  have  varied  this  somewhat,  calling  for 
either  more  or  less.  It  has  been  very  common  to  rate  the  cor- 
porations. In  Springfield,  Ohio,  it  was  argued  that  5%  of  the 
earnings  of  corporations  was  not  an  unfair  amount.  In  Ken- 
osha, Wis.,  business  houses  and  corporations  were  asked  to 
give  as  a  firm  gift  an  amount  equivalent  to  that  of  the  employ- 
ees, excepting  the  office  forces  and  the  executive  forces.  This 
plan  was  followed  by  Attleboro,  Batavia,  and  Michigan  City. 
In  other  places  corporations  were  asked  to  give  one-half  of  1% 
of  their  annual  sales.  Still  others  asked  for  a  percentage  based 
on  the  number  of  employees,  etc. 

On  the  whole  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  corpo- 
rations should  not  in  most  cases  be  asked  to  make  contributions. 
In  certain  instances  where  the  owTiers  all  live  in  the  communi- 
ty r.i:d  are  known  there,  it  is  perfectly  proper  for  them  to  make 
their  contributions  as  individuals.  In  many,  if  not  all,  Con- 
necticut communities,  however,  there  are  a  number  of  corpora- 

47 


tions  owned  by  outside  interests,  which  owe  something  to  the 
communities  in  which  they  operate  and  which  normally  will  be 
glad  to  contribute  to  war  chests.  It  must  be  remembered  in 
the  case  of  banks  that  they  have  to  designate  their  gifts  under 
the  ruling  of  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency. 

Again,  a  number  of  cities,  Glens  Falls,  Rochester  and  Syra- 
cuse for  instance,  had  a  small  number  of  cards  in  the  hands  of 
the  executive  committee.  These  usually  are  the  cards  of  the 
largest  subscribers. 

Some  cities  had  separate  divisions  for  the  merchants. 
Syracuse  had  a  merchants'  division,  and  the  teams  within  were 
composed  of  jewelers,  dry-goods  men,  etc.  Still  others  had  a 
separate  division  for  manufacturers,  for  example,  Glens  Falls, 
N.  Y.,  and  Kenosha,  Wis.  Others  had  a  separate  division  for 
professional  men,  for  example,  Cambridge  and  Chillicothe,  Ohio, 
with  special  teams  for  physicians,  bankers,  lawyers,  dentists, 
etc. 

A  survey  of  practice  in  a  large  number  of  cities  makes 
it  seem  advisable  on  the  whole  to  put  all  of  these  in  two  divi- 
sions ;  the  first,  which  is  frequently  called  the  executive  commit- 
tee division,  to  include  the  corporations  and  the  very  largest 
givers;  second,  an  individual  subscribers  division,  to  cover  all 
the  rest  of  those  who  have  prospect  cards  which  call  for  solici- 
tation neither  in  the  home  nor  in  factory  or  other  groups.  There 
seems  to  be  a  good  deal  of  question  about  the  desirability  of 
separating  the  vocational,  professional  and  mercantile  teams. 
Speaking  generally,  better  results  are  obtained  by  simply  assign- 
ing the  names  carefully  among  properly  chosen  teams  rather 
than  following  the  vocational  lines — though  it  ought  to  be  said 
that  cities  which  have  used  that  plan  have  often  succeeded. 
Some  of  them,  however,  have  indicated  that  despite  that  fact 
they  should  not  follow  the  plan  again. 

The  third  division,  under  the  composite  scheme  here  out- 
lined, is  one  which  is  almost  universally  used,  namely,  the  divi- 
sion of  factory  employees.  As  indicated  elsewhere,  the  assign- 
ment in  this  division  should  be  on  the  basis  of  group  rating 
among  teams,  substantially  according  to  the  plan  employed  by 
Rochester.  That  city  had  five  factory  groups  and  the  assign- 
ment was  so  well  made  that  the  results  of  the  competition  were 
extremely  close.  It  is  worth  while  to  detail  them  by  way  of 
illustration.  The  northwest  division  had  11,609  subscribers, 
the  northeast  division  10,675,  the  southwest  10,936,  the  south- 
east 10,310,  and  the  central  10,310.  Reduced  to  percentage, 
these  are  respectively:  99.9%,  92%,  96%,  99.4%,  and  93.7%. 
Computation  shows  that  the  assignment  among  the  sections 
was  extraordinarily  even  and  scrutiny  of  the  production  figures 
shows  that  there  was  developed  a  close  competition.  Substan- 
tially, the  same  result  was  produced  in  Springfield  and  other 
cities  by  analogous  methods. 

48 


The  fourth  division  takes  care  of  public  utility  employees. 
It  includes,  of  course,  the  railways  and  in  some  cases  conduc- 
tors, brakemen,  engineers,  firemen,  and  shopmen  were  reached 
through  separate  teams.  It  includes  also  the  street  railway 
employees  and  those  of  the  telephone,  express,  electric  light  and 
gas  light  companies.  Among  these  the  competition  must  be  in 
terms  of  percents,  unless  they  are  distributed  to  teams  on  the 
group  rating  plan  used  in  connection  with  the  factory  employees. 

The  fifth  division  is  that  of  public  employees  which  may 
be  differentiated  into  federal  employees,  including  mail  car- 
riers, custom  house  clerks,  internal  revenue  officers,  etc. ;  second, 
state  employees;  third,  county  employees.  Usually  state  em- 
ployees and  county  employees  require  only  one  team  apiece, 
except  in  capital  cities.  Last  of  all  there  are  the  city  employ- 
ees which  may  be  in  several  subdivisions ;  schools,  public  works, 
public  safety — including  firemen  and  policemen — parks,  en- 
gineering, etc. 

The  sixth  division  is  made  up  of  retail  employees  and  this 
may  be  divided,  either  as  are  the  factories  on  the  basis  of  group 
assessment,  or  geographically,  or  both;  or  they  may  be  divided 
according  to  various  sorts  of  retail  employees  with  special  teams 
for  each,  working  the  matter  out  in  as  great  detail  as  seems 
desirable.  On  the  whole,  the  first  method  suggested  appears 
decidedly  the  better. 

A  great  deal  of  variance  in  emphasis  upon  the  solicitation 
of  persons  at  their  homes  has  been  developed.  Some  cities  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  make  no  house-to-house  solicitation  on  the 
ground  that  it  means  simply  double  solicitation,  since  the  per- 
sons in  the  home  are  not  producers,  are  without  income,  and 
in  consequence  ought  not  to  be  asked  to  subscribe,  especially 
inasmuch  as  most  of  them  belong  to  the  families  of  workmen 
who  give  all  they  ought  to  give  through  the  shops.  In  such 
cases  an  effort  is  usually  made  to  discover  those  persons  who 
have  no  places  of  employment  and  yet  have  incomes  and  to 
reach  those  who  can  afford  to  give  without  undue  sacrifice.  A 
survey  of  the  towns  which  paid  no  attention  whatever  to  a 
house-to-house  solicitation  shows  that  for  the  most  part  they  do 
not  have  the  most  successful  war  chests. 

The  next  to  the  least  emphasis  on  the  house-to-house  solici- 
tation came  in  cities  where  this  was  used  as  a  sort  of  a  clean-up 
campaign  to  catch  loose  pennies.  Such  was  the  idea  involved 
in  the  Cleveland  plan.  It  was  also  the  Kenosha  idea  for  in 
that  city  the  house-to-house  solicitation  was  left  to  Boy  Scouts, 
who  very  naturally  are  not  expert  salesmen. 

It  does  stand  to  reason  that  if  the  solicitation  through  em- 
ployment is  made  sufficiently  comprehensive  the  house-to-house 
canvass  is  largely  duplicative  and  to  that  extent  undesirable, 
especially  if  the  greatest  care  has  not  been  used  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  prospect  list. 

49 


This  division  is  occasionally  subdivided  by  the  creation  of  a 
woman's  division,  organized  wholly  separately. 

It  seems  advisable,  however,  that  all  this  work  should  be 
turned  over  to  the  women's  teams  and  that  there  should  be  no 
women's  division.  This  division  should  be  divided  according 
to  wards,  precincts  and  blocks.  Its  activities  should  be  post- 
poned until  after  the  campaign  has  been  thoroughly  started. 
This  makes  it  much  easier  to  handle  the  organization,  because 
it  is  not  necessary  to  distribute  so  many  supplies  or  to  instruct 
so  many  people  all  at  once.  It  lets  the  work  move  on  more 
evenly.  Also  it  indicates,  what  ought  to  be  the  case,  that  the 
homes  division  is  not  the  main  reliance  of  the  campaign,  the 
work  being  in  the  nature  of  gleaning.  This  is  true  because 
seeing  people  in  the  homes  is  a  much  slower  and  much  less 
certain  process  than  seeing  them  at  their  places  of  business, 
and  because  there  is  less  group  or  other  stimulus  in  solicitation 
in  the  homes.  Experience  has  demonstrated  this  beyond  ques- 
tion as  is  pointed  out  elsewhere. 

The  question  whether  pupils  in  schools  should  be  solicited 
is  one  which  has  been  debated  very  earnestly  and  opinions  are 
almost  always  very  positive  one  w^ay  or  the  other. 

The  argument  against  the  solicitation  of  children  in  the 
schools  is  that  the  war  chest  should  approach  only  the  producer 
and  that  for  the  most  part  school  children  do  not  earn  money. 
The  solicitation  of  pupils,  therefore,  is  simply  a  demand  upon 
the  wage  earner  that  he  give  twice.  This  puts  an  unusual' 
burden  upon  the  man  of  small  income  who  is  subject  to  a  good 
deal  of  pressure  developed  by  his  fellow  workmen  to  give  in  his 
shop.  To  ask  him  in  addition  to  give  something  through  the 
schools  is  unfair,  for  it  means  nothing  to  the  rich  man  to  let 
his  children  give  a  small  amount. 

Cities  which  object  to  the  solicitation  of  pupils  frequently 
allow  schools  as  a  whole  to  make  pledges,  the  pupils  agreeing 
to  earn  the  amount.  In  one  case  the  graduating  class  of  a 
school  turned  over  to  the  war  chest  the  money  which  it  had 
intended  to  put  into  a  class  gift,  a  precedent  which  speedily 
found  emulation  in  the  other  schools  of  the  city. 

The  argument  is  frequently  offered  too  that  it  is  better 
to  allow  only  the  Junior  Red  Cross  within  the  schools  because 
that  has  great  educational  force.  This  argument  certainly  is 
not  without  a  great  deal  of  merit.  The  amount  of  money  in- 
volved is  small  and  the  sentimental  and  educational  value  is 
relatively  large. 

Cities,  on  the  other  hand,  which  have  solicited  the  pupils 
feel  that  the  plan  has  very  definite  value  because  it  links  up 
the  children  in  a  great  community  movement.  Springfield, 
Mass.,  for  example,  did  not  intend  to  solicit  students  but  the 
demand  for  the  campaign  came  from  the  pupils  themselves. 
Some  cities,  on  the  other  hand,  made  very  elaborate  prepara- 

50 


tions.  In  Attleboro,  Mass.,  pledge  cards"  were  furnished  for  all 
school  children,  including  those  in  the  parochial  schools,  and 
there  was  a  special  school  children's  day  on  which  all  the  pledges 
were  turned  in,  prizes  being  given  for  the  first  ten  rooms  to 
make  100%  enlistments  and  cards  bearing  "100%"  put  up  in 
those  schools  which  reached  that  amount.  Likewise  each  week 
they  have  a  ''soldier's  hour"  on  Wednesday  at  ten  o'clock  when 
whistles  are  blown,  bells  are  rung,  and  special  exercises  are 
held,  a  plan  which  seems  to  have  been  originated  in  Kenosha, 
Wis. 

There  has  been  some  question  as  to  the  advisability  of 
school  solicitation  from  the  standpoint  of  bookkeeping  and  ac- 
counting. The  handling  of  small  pledges  is  difficult  and  ex- 
pensive and  one  or  two  cities  which  canvassed  the  schools  have 
since  regretted  it  because  of  the  bookkeeping  entailed.  The 
only  proper  way  to  handle  this  difficulty  is  after  the  manner 
of  Attleboro  where  the  parent's  signature  is  required  on  each 
pupil's  pledge  card,  which  means  that  there  has  been  consulta- 
tion and  consent  at  home;  where  the  teachers  retain  the  pledge 
cards  and  post  the  payments  on  them  each  week;  where  the 
payments  are  made  not  throughout  the  year  but  only  during 
school  weeks;  and  where  the  payments  are  made  to  teachers, 
not  to  the  war  chest  office.  It  is  not  possible  to  be  as  rigid  in 
the  matter  of  delinquencies,  etc.,  in  the  school  pledge  and  at 
best  a  great  deal  of  flexibility  and  decentralization  must  be  al- 
lowed and  the  only  war  chest  account  should  be  a  school  account. 

The  conclusion  that  a  survey  of  the  evidence  induces  is  that 
the  schools  had  perhaps  better  be  canvassed  but  that  special 
effort  should  be  made  not  to  allow  the  amount  to  be  burdensome. 
Moreover  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  Junior 
Red  Cross  movement.  This  can  be  achieved  either  by  a  special 
solicitation  for  that  purpose  or  by  emphasizing  in  the  schools 
the  nature  and  value  of  the  Red  Cross  and  insisting,  as  did 
Columbus,  on  the  performance  of  such  duties  and  exercises  as 
will  demonstrate  a  real  interest  in  Red  Cross  work,  the  payment 
of  the  fee  being  made  from  the  war  chest.  Of  course,  any 
pupil  who  did  not  contribute  to  the  war  chest  could  join  the 
Red  Cross  on  payment  of  the  proper  amount. 

The  last  division  is  composed  of  the  townships,  or  the  re- 
mainder of  the  county,  and  is  variously  named.  Usually  this 
division  is  rather  loosely  organized — each  town,  save  for  a 
certain  central  guidance,  building  its  own  campaign  structure 
and  reporting  as  a  unit  to  the  central  headquarters.  Frequently 
it  has  been  too  loosely  organized,  which  explains  in  part  the 
failure  of  the  rural  districts  to  produce  in  proportion  to  their 
capacity. 

Occasionally  there  have  been  farmers'  divisions  and  com- 
muters' divisions.  These  seem  unnecessary,  and  even  unwise, 
and   should   be   merged   in  the  township   or   county   division. 

51 


Sometimes,  too,  there  have  been  fraternal  divisions  designed  to 
reach  men  through  their  lodges.  This  is  a  duplicative  feature 
because  the  men  are  seen  either  as  individual  subscribers  or  as 
employees.  It  is,  therefore,  a  cross  solicitation  and  should  in 
consequence  be  omitted. 

Score  Boards. 

Every  city  has  its  own  idea  with  regard  to  a  proper  score 
board.  In  Cleveland  the  board  did  not  show  team  amounts, 
the  only  thing  put  on  the  board  was  a  gold  star,  if  a  team  had 
raised  its  proportion  of  its  quota  for  that  day.  Each  team  had 
a  daily  quota,  the  first  day  to  raise  25%,  the  second  day  15% 
and  so  on.  If  a  team  raised  more  than  the  quota,  the  captain 
could  hold  that  much  back  for  next  day.  The  consequence  was 
that  at  the  close  everyone  of  the  thirty-six  teams  had  a  full  set 
of  stars.  This  eliminated  all  soreness  and  teams  which  did  not 
have  as  good  prospects  as  others  were  given  an  equal  chance  to 
shine. 

One  of  the  most  striking  of  the  score  boards  was  that  of 
Rochester,  which  took  pains  to  make  the  board  big  enough  so 
that  every  name  and  figure  could  be  easily  read.  One  whole 
side  was  given  to  the  factory  employees  division.  Factories  had 
after  them  only  marks  of  percentage,  a  most  impressive  sight  to 
see  the  enormous  number  of  factories  with  100%  after  the 
name.  After  each  team  the  board  showed  also  the  total  amount 
of  pledges,  the  total  number  of  pledges  and  the  total  percentage 
of  employees.  The  other  side  of  the  board  showed  the  work  of 
the  county  division,  expressed  in  terms  of  amounts  and  show- 
ing the  total  amount  and  total  number  of  pledges,  the  utility 
employees  division,  the  public  employees  division,  the  retail  em- 
ployees division,  and  the  individual  subscribers  division,  all 
showing  the  same  data — save  that  under  the  individual  sub- 
scribers division  there  was  a  separate  heading  for  the  team 
workers'  subscriptions.  The  center  of  the  board  accumulated 
the  grand  totals,  at  the  left  the  amount  of  pledges  and  at  the 
right  the  number  of  pledges. 

The  ordinary  type  of  score  board  gives  for  each  team  the 
amount  raised  during  the  day,  the  number  of  subscriptions  dur- 
ing the  day,  and  the  total  of  both  up  to  that  time,  accumulating 
grand  totals  at  the  end  for  each  team  and  for  each  division. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  describe  other  score  boards.  The 
only  comment  that  is  desirable  is  that  they  should  be  made  as 
clear  as  possible  by  building  them  sufficiently  large. 

Instructions  to  Workers. 

There  is  the  greatest  divergence  in  practice  among  cities 
with  regard  to  instructing  the  workers.  Some  cities  have  is- 
sued separate  instructions  for  captains,  some  separate  instruc- 

52 


tions  for  homes  division  workers,  factory  employee  workers, 
etc.  Some  have  limited  the  instructions  to  plain  directions  as 
to  procedure,  others  have  incorporated  a  catechism  of  question 
and  answer  designed  to  assist  the  war  chest  worker  in  under- 
standing the  problem  himself  and  to  facilitate  his  work  in  an- 
swering questions.  The  range  of  topics  dealt  with  is  great  in 
extent. 

Perhaps  the  briefest  and  most  serviceable  way  of  dealing 
with  this  topic  is  to  build  a  composite  set  of  instructions,  which 
might  read  as  follows: 

1 — Badge.  Always  wear  the  badge  telling  your  name  and 
number  when  soliciting.  Positive  instructions  have  been  issued 
to  the  public  not  to  receive  workers  who  do  not  wear  these  offi- 
cial buttons. 

2 — Salesmanship.  You  are  going  to  sell  subscriptions  to 
the  war  chest  and  a  good  salesman  should  know  his  line  from  all 
angles.  Therefore,  study  the  booklet,  "What  is  a  War  Chest", 
and  other  literature.  Subscriptions  are  not  secured  by  hypnosis 
or  begging,  but  by  tactful,  business-like  and  convincing  presen- 
tation of  the  needs  and  objects  of  the  war  chest. 

3 — Tact  and  Persistence.  Be  tactfully  persistent — ^those 
who  refuse  to  subscribe  at  first  will  often  do  so  on  the  second 
and  third  call.  Do  not  be  easily  discouraged.  Keep  after  them, 
this  is  patriotic  work.  Tactfully  and  persistently  showing  there 
is  no  real  reason  for  his  not  subscribing,  explain  how  easy  the 
extended  payments  make  the  matter  and  urge  him  to  a  generous 
decision.  Don't  accept  a  refusal  on  a  first  call — ask  him  to 
think  it  over  and  say  you  will  come  again  and  be  sure  to  do  so. 
When  an  answer  is  given  which  seems  final,  accept  it  thankfully, 
though  the  subscription  be  small  and  gracefully,  if  it  is  a  re- 
fusal, leaving  him  at  least  a  friend  of  the  war  chest. 

4 — Work  in  pairs.  Whenever  possible  solicitors  should 
work  in  pairs,  as  experience  has  shown  that  in  a  matter  of  this 
kind  more  effective  soliciting  can  be  achieved  in  that  manner. 

5 — Thoroughness.  Everyone  in  the  city  must  be  solicited. 
Everyone  must  be  given  an  opportunity  to  take  a  share  in  the 
war  chest.  Cover  every  prospect  assigned  you — no  one  should 
be  missed. 

6 — Discipline.  If  you  desire  information  or  anything  at 
all,  apply  to  your  immediate  superior.  Never  go  over  his  head 
unless  it  is  impossible  to  reach  him. 

7 — Attendance.  In  order  to  avoid  mistakes,  to  understand 
your  task,  and  to  do  your  work  effectively,  it  is  essential  that 
you  attend  all  meetings  and  luncheons.  One  hundred  per  cent, 
attendance  is  the  goal.  Are  you  going  to  be  the  one  to  prevent 
its  attainment? 

8 — Punctuality.  Whatever  you  do,  be  on  time.  The  late 
arrival  of  one  man  discommodes  many  and  often  upsets  the 
working  of  a  whole  team.     It  is  unfair  to  your  associates. 

53 


9 — Trespassing.  Talk  and  boost  the  war  chest  wherever 
you  go,  but  do  not  solicit  or  accept  subscriptions  from  those  not 
assigned  you.  Annoyance  will  result  if  this  caution  is  disre- 
garded. If  there  is  special  reason,  accept  the  subscription  and 
turn  it  over  to  the  worker  to  whom  it  was  assigned.  Be  gener- 
ous in  the  matter. 

10 — Use  of  Telephone.  Never  solicit  over  the  telephone. 
When  telephoning  to  learn  if  a  man  is  in,  avoid  a  discussion 
of  the  war  chest.  Do  not  allow  him  to  make  up  his  mind  until 
you  have  seen  him  personally. 

11 — Use  of  Scale  or  Rating,  (a)  Under  no  circumstances 
do  we  want  to  advise  anyone  what  he  shall  do.  Never  allow 
yourself  to  be  caught  in  making  a  suggestion,  even.  Any 
amount  including  $1.00  and  more  will  be  entirely  satisfactory 
from  anyone  (Terre  Haute). 

(b)  Each  card  authorizing  solicitation  will  contain  in  the 
upper  right-hand  corner  an  amount  showing  the  class  in  which 
the  prospect  has  been  placed  by  the  revision  and  classification 
committee,  for  convenience  in  distributing  the  cards.  The  so- 
licitor must  not  use  the  amount  suggested  on  the  cards  in  mak- 
ing solicitation.  This  is  a  free-will  offering.  Every  contribu- 
tor must  feel  that  no  pressure  is  to  be  brought  upon  him  by 
anyone  to  say  what  he  shall  give  (Springfield,  Mass.). 

(c)  The  solicitor  should  suggest  to  the  contributor  to  sub- 
scribe in  the  ratio  suggested  upon  the  patriotic  quota  card,  but 
if  such  per  cent,  of  his  income  is  in  excess  of  the  amount  the 
contributor  can  afford,  then  the  contributor  should  be  urged  to 
subscribe  to  the  limit  of  what  he  can  afford  within  the  year 
(Indianapolis). 

(d)  Solicitors  must  not  accept  a  subscription  from  any  in- 
dividual or  firm  unless  sure  that  it  is  in  accordance  with  our 
schedule  (Racine). 

12 — Return  Calls.  Call  back  again  if  you  are  unable  to 
secure  an  interview  the  first  time.  Subscription  blanks  left 
behind  are  seldom  signed.  See  him  personally  the  second  time 
without  fail. 

13 — Forms  of  Pledges.  (These  should  be  very  explicitly 
explained.) 

14 — Signatures.  Prospects  themselves  must  sign  all  sub- 
scriptions with  ink  or  indelible  pencil.  Do  not  sign  for  any 
subscriber. 

15 — Clearness  and  Legibility.  Carefully  go  over  the  sub- 
scription card  in  the  subscriber's  presence.  In  printed  letters 
rewrite  the  name  on  the  line  provided  and  also  rewrite  on  the 
back  of  the  card  whatever  is  not  clear.  This  means  dollars  to 
the  war  chest  by  elimination  of  work  and  avoidance  of  errors. 

16 — Your  Owni  Signature.  Be  sure  to  sign  your  name  and 
the  number  of  your  team  to  each  subscription  card.  If  you  are 
working  with  any  member  of  your  team,  both  names  should 

54 


appear.     This  is  frequently  extremely  important  for  the  treas- 
urer at  the  close  of  the  campaign. 

17 — Completeness.  Failure  to  fill  out  any  blanks  on  the 
.pledge  cards  is  certain  to  cause  trouble.  Do  not  fail  to  see  that 
they  are  complete. 

18 — Return  Prospect  Cards.  Under  no  circumstances  neg- 
lect to  return  the  prospect  card  with  the  proper  notation  of 
the  results;  give  either  the  amount  of  the  subscription  or  the 
reason  for  refusal. 

19 — Cash,  (a)  If  you  receive  cash  on  any  pledge  enclose 
it  with  the  pledge  card  in  the  envelope  provided  for  the  purpose 
and  seal.  Do  not  fail  to  enter  the  amount  paid  on  the  pledge 
card. 

(b)  Under  no  circumstances  is  a  worker  to  receive  cash  or 
check  with  a  subscription.     Pledges  only  are  allowable. 

20 — Report.  Have  your  report  ready  when  you  reach  the 
luncheon.  Check  it  over  carefully  before  turning  it  in  to  the 
secretary  in  order  to  lighten  his  burden  as  much  as  possible. 
List  subscriptions  legibly. 

21 — Supplies.  Your  supplies  should  contain  instruction 
sheet,  badge,  pledge  cards,  cash  envelopes,  report  envelopes, 
window  cards.  Check  up  the  contents  at  once  and  if  anything 
is  missing,  report  to  your  team  secretal"y.  Always  apply  to  him 
for  supplies. 

22 — Sportsmanship.  Remember  that  we  are  volunteers, 
that  no  one  can  foresee  every  contingency  and  that  the  success 
of  this  campaign  is  built  upon  your  interest,  your  cheerfulness, 
your  enthusiam,  your  generosity,  and  your  sportsmanship.  Do 
not  allow  small  things  to  irritate  you. 

Each  of  the  topics  included  occurs  in  the  instructions  issued 
by  a  large  number  of  cities.  Frequently  the  passage  is  taken 
bodily;  occasionally  it  is  a  composite;  in  a  few  instances  it  has 
been  drafted  with  a  view  to  expressing  an  idea  common  to  many, 
but  without  using  their  words. 


55 


CHAPTER  THREE 


THE  CAMPAIGN. 

One  of  the  most  serious  problems  in  laying  out  the  work  of 
a  war  chest  campaign  arises  from  the  need  for  a  prospect  list 
in  order  effectively  to  cover  the  territory  and  to  make  proper 
distribution  of  the  work  among  the  solicitors.  This  is  abso- 
lutely vital  to  success  and  as  a  rule,  though  subject  to  certain 
exceptions  for  special  reasons,  the  more  complete  the  prospect 
list  the  more  successful  the  war  chest  campaign  is  likely  to  be. 


Census. 

The  first  method  of  developing  a  complete  and  accurate 
prospect  list  is  by  means  of  a  patriotic  census.  Often  this  cen- 
sus has  a  value  and  is  intended  to  have  a  value  beyond  the  war 
chest  campaign.  It  is  frequently  made  to  serve  as  a  foundation 
for  later  Liberty  loan  canvassing,  for  recruiting  Red  Cross 
workers,  for  war  savings  propaganda,  for  fuel  and  food  con- 
servation work,  etc.  In  many  instances,  therefore,  if  not  in 
most,  the  census  must  be  regarded  not  only  from  the  point  of 
view  of  its  usefulness  in  the  war  chest  campaign  but  it  must  be 
judged  also  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  general  usefulness 
in  the  community  for  other  war  activities.  In  one  city,  for 
example,  the  war  savings  director  reported  that  twice  as  many 
War  Savings  Stamps  were  sold  as  a  result  of  the  census,  and 
the  Liberty  loan  chairman  regarded  it  as  one  of  his  most  val- 
uable assets. 

The  purposes  of  the  patriotic  census  therefore  are,  first  of 
all,  to  gain  a  list  of  people  active  in  war  work  or  willing  to  be- 
come active,  secondarily  to  furnish  the  foundation  for  a  prospect 
list,  and  finally  to  serve  as  an  educational  feature.  In  Terre 
Haute  this  latter  was  emphasized  in  the  instructions  to  war 
chest  workers  which  said: 

"The  importance  of  this  movement  will  be  more  thoroughly  im- 
pressed on  the  family  in  resident  districts  if  the  lieutenant  first  of  all 
requests  a  census  of  the  household,  including  all  men  and  women  over 
eighteen  years  old.  This  method  gives  the  lieutenants  an  opportunity 
to  meet  all  the  members  of  that  household  and  to  talk  over  and  explain 
thoroughly  the  object  of  this  movement." 

56 


In  Springfield,  Mass.,  the  census  was  made  a  great  patriotic 
affair.  Advertisements  published  in  the  newspapers  gave  the 
following  reasons  for  the  census : 

"Unity  in  organization  constitutes  the  working  strength  of  a  great 
cause  and  the  more  profoundly  it  appeals  to  us  the  greater  the  neces- 
sity of  getting  together.  This  war  must  be  prosecuted  not  only  by 
the  men  who  come  to  the  colors  but  by  the  united,  steady,  and  adequate 
support  of  all  the  people  behind  them.  Mass  meetings  call  out  a  part 
of  the  people,  but  what  is  needed  is  a  plan  by  which  all  can  be  included, 
every  man  and  woman,  boy  and  girl,  who  is  willing  to  help  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  soldiers  and  sailors.  No  obligation  is  involved  in  this 
novel  registration,  only  the  expression  of  a  desire  to  assist  the  Govern- 
ment in  whatever  way  one  can  do  it.  The  service  we  can  render  will 
vary  greatly  and  it  cannot  be  measured  in  dollars  and  cents.  The 
widow  who  gives  her  mite  or  voluntarily  adds  to  the  burden  of  her 
toil,  or  sends  her  boy  to  join  the  colors,  is  rendering  a  service  which 
cannot  be  measured  in  gold. 

"This  census  is  a  roll  of  honor  in  its  truest  sense.  It  will  be  as 
nearly  as  it  is  possible  to  make  it  an  accurate  enrollment  of  the  men, 
women,  and  children  of  Springfield  who  are  loyal  to  their  country  and 
who  stand  ready  to  do  their  share  to  win  the  war." 

These  statements  of  the  purpose  of  the  census  show  the  very 
broad  character  and  comprehensiveness  of  its  intentions.  Per- 
sonal obsei'vation  in  Springfield  made  it  perfectly  evident  that 
the  census  did  result  in  a  tremendous  awakening  on  the  part  of 
the  public  to  a  realization  of  the  war  and  to  a  quickening  of  a 
sense  of  responsibility  on  the  part  of  individuals  with  regard 
to  their  relation  to  the  war.  Also  the  census  resulted  in  a  great 
stimulus  to  all  patriotic  activities. 

When  one  approaches  the  task  of  describing  the  methods 
employed  in  taking  a  census,  the  questions  asked,  and  the  uses 
to  which  the  information  has  been  put,  it  becomes  speedily 
evident  that  cities  have  developed  a  great  deal  of  originality  in 
these  matters. 

Among  the  first  to  use  the  census  was  Terre  Haute,  where 
the  sheets  were  made  in  triplicate  by  means  of  carbon  on  a  very 
simple  blank.  The  second  copy  was  retained  by  the  census- 
taker,  the  first  copy  was  retained  by  his  captain,  and  the  orig- 
inal was  sent  to  the  office  of  the  war  chest.  In  that  case  the 
census  was  used,  so  far  as  the  war  chest  was  concerned,  not  so 
much  for  the  purposes  of  building  a  prospect  list  as  for  follow- 
up  work  after  the  campaign  had  closed.  It  was  designed  to 
make  opportunity  to  check  back  from  the  membership  pledges 
so  ?.".  to  discover  who  had  not  signed  in  any  particular  household 
and  to  go  over  the  ground  again  as  often  as  necessary,  "preach- 
ing patriotism  and  loyalty  to  those  who  need  it  most." 

Another  of  the  earlier  attempts  at  a  census  was  made  in 

57 


Rome,  N.  Y.  The  blank  used  in  that  city  called  for  the  names 
of  the  occupants,  places  of  employment,  estimate  of  income,  and 
any  other  remarks.  The  column  with  regard  to  income  was  to 
be  filled  out  not  in  response  to  a  question  by  the  census-taker, 
but  on  the  basis  of  the  census-taker's  judgment  as  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  family.  While  this  appears  to  have  worked  well 
in  Rome,  attempts  on  the  part  of  other  cities  to  use  it  brought 
difficulties,  because  census-takers  incautiously  asked  the  in- 
comes, not  having  been  sufficiently  instructed.  Moreover  the 
judgment  of  the  census-taker  with  regard  to  income  would  have 
value  only  with  regard  to  the  income  of  the  head  of  the  house, 
not  with  regard  to  others  in  the  same  family  who  might  be 
employed.  Then,  too,  the  judgment  of  the  census-taker  with 
regard  to  the  income  of  the  head  of  the  house  as  based  on  man- 
ner of  life,  etc.,  might  very  likely  be  inaccurate  and  consequently 
misleading  to  the  rating  committee.  These  criticisms  apply  to 
the  attempts  on  the  part  of  other  cities  to  copy  the  Rome  plan, 
for  as  already  indicated  it  was  a  success  there  and  was  regarded 
as  having  paid  for  the  effort  involved  because  of  its  advertising 
value  alone  and  because  of  its  educational  qualities. 

Another  community  which  developed  the  census  idea  was 
Pittsfield,  Mass.,  which  had  a  .card  providing  for  the  name;  a 
symbol  to  denote  whether  the  individual  listed  was  the  head 
of  the  house,  wife,  son,  daughter,  boarder,  employee,  or  relative ; 
the  occupation;  the  place  of  employment;  the  number  in  the 
family;  and  the  dates  of  birth  of  children  of  five  years  and 
under.  So  far  as  reports  have  come  from  cities,  Pittsfield 
originated  the  use  of  the  symbols  to  indicate  the  position  of 
the  individual  in  the  family,  which  of  course  had  a  very  distinct 
bearing  upon  the  proper  making-out  of  prospect  cards. 

Still  another  type  of  census  appears  to  have  been  originated 
in  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  is  at  once  the  most  elaborate  and 
broadest  in  character.  It  called,  first  of  all,  for  the  careful 
identification  of  the  census-taker  and  the  census  sheets  were 
arranged  in  accordance  with  addresses.  There  was  a  series  of 
columns  of  generous  size  so  that  writing  would  not  have  to  be 
cramped.  The  first  column  was  headed  ''Mrs.  or  Miss",  the 
second  column  was  for  the  family  name,  the  third  for  the  given 
name,  and  the  fourth  for  the  initial.  The  fifth  column  was 
for  entering  the  ages  of  members  of  the  family  from  sixteen  to 
twenty-one;  the  sixth  the  number  of  children  under  sixteen. 
Then  there  were  successive  columns  for  the  home  address  by 
street  and  number,  place  of  employment,  nature  of  employment 
or  occupation,  number  of  persons  from  the  household  in  Govern- 
ment service,  and  finally,  in  some  respects  most  important,  the 
questions:  "Are  you  doing  patriotic  service?  If  so,  what?'' 
The  idea  was  that  in  this  column  persons  could  enter  whatever 
they  were  doing,  such  as  knitting,  Red  Cross  work.  Home  Guard 
service,  etc.     It  was  suggested  after  the  census  had  been  taken 

58 


that  it  would  be  a  distinct  addition  if  there  were  another  column 
with  the  heading:  **What  service  would  you  be  willing  to  do?" 

This  census  was  taken  on  one  Sunday  afternoon  and  in  a 
population  which  is  variously  estimated  from  110,000  to  125,000 
the  persons  accounted  for  numbered  96,807.  Considering  the 
number  of  persons  likely  to  be  out  on  any  given  afternoon,  this 
was  extraordinary,  and  in  the  course  of  the  following  week 
several  thousand  namies  were  added  by  voluntary  enrollment. 
There  were  only  129  people  in  the  entire  city  who  refused  to 
answer  the  questions. 

An  idea  which  was  utilized  in  Springfield,  but  which  could 
well  be  extended  considerably,  is  to  have  the  letter-carriers  serve 
as  heads  of  divisions.  They  are  peculiarly  familiar  with  the 
names,  can  readily  decipher  those  v/hich  are  illegible,  and  can 
correct  those  which  are  misspelled.  Moreover  this  gives  an 
opportunity  to  a  body  of  men  who  seldom  have  opportunity  to 
express  their  civic  spirit  and  their  interest  in  the  community. 

The  census  sheet  as  developed  in  Springfield  was  used  in  a 
very  much  simplified  form  by  Meriden  and  Torrington,  both  of 
which  omitted  the  column  with  regard  to  patriotic  service  and 
substituted  a  column  in  which  there  could  be  marked  a  symbol 
to  indicate  whether  the  individual  earned  wages  or  had  an 
income  from  other  sources.  This,  however,  made  the  census 
much  more  nearly  a  war  chest  affair  and  to  that  extent  narrow- 
ed its  scope. 

The  War  Chest  Association  of  the  Tarrytowns  used  sepa- 
rate forms  for  various  classes  of  population,  one  form  being 
for  physicians,  la^vyers,  clergymen,  and  professional  people  in 
general,  another  for  other  classes  of  occupation,  the  form  of 
the  blank  being  altered  in  order  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
different  classes.  This  appears  to  be  a  needless  complication 
and  one  which,  unless  it  is  desired  to  divide  names  among  teams 
on  a  vocational  basis,  requires  more  effort  than  is  worth  while. 
Certainly  in  a  large  city  it  is  sufficiently  difficult  to  instruct 
the  public  and  the  enumerators  with  regard  to  one  blank  with- 
out making  the  situation  any  more  complex. 

The  census  was  also  used  in  certain  Ohio  cities,  usually  in  a 
form  rather  simpler  than  any  of  those  described,  provision  being 
made  simply  for  the  names  of  adults  and  wage-earners  and  their 
addresses. 

To  achieve  successful  results  in  one  day's  effort  requires 
much  thought  beforehand,  careful  organization,  and  persistent 
instruction  both  of  the  public  and  of  enumerators.  The  most 
elaborate  instructions  to  census-takers  were  published  by 
Springfield,  Mass.  It  may  be  said  in  general  that  the  ideas 
which  have  proved  most  successful  in  practice  are  to  have  an 
extremely  large  number  of  census-takers  so  that  each  will  have 
relatively  few  to  see — thirty  being  a  maximum,  perhaps;  in 
the  second  place  to  see  to  it  that  the  enumerators  are  carefully 

59 


drilled  in  the  manner  of  filling  out  sheets  as  well  as  in  the  prob- 
lem of  avoiding  friction  with  householders;  and  in  the  third 
place  to  avoid  duplication  and  gaps  by  making  the  area  which 
each  individual  is  to  cover  so  explicit  that  mistake  is  virtually 
impossible. 

This  last  problem  was  met  by  Meriden  through  the  use  of 
a  guide  card,  an  oblong  card  about  six  inches  by  three  inches 
with  the  name  of  the  street  written  at  the  top,  and  pasted  upon 
it  a  section  of  the  city  directory  covering  the  houses  that  that 
census-taker  must  reach.  This  not  only  instructed  him  precise- 
ly what  houses  to  approach  but  also  gave  the  census-taker  in 
printed  form  the  names,  so  that  if  a  family  had  not  moved 
recently  the  matter  of  spelling  was  made  very  much  easier  and 
the  results  more  accurate.  Other  cities  added  to  the  guide  card 
the  feature  of  having  pasted  on  the  reverse  side  a  blue-print 
map  of  exactly  that  part  of  the  city  which  the  census-taker  in 
question  was  to  cover. 

The  use  made  of  the  census  after  its  completion  by  different 
war  chests  may  be  said  to  be  of  four  types. 

The  first  is  to  build  a  prospect  list.  This  was  done  in  most 
complete  form  by  Springfield,  where  the  names  of  persons  with 
occupations  away  from  home  were  first  checked  on  the  census 
sheets  by  the  transfer  committee.  Then  stenographers,  who 
had  been  loaned  without  charge  to  the  war  chest  by  their  em- 
ployers, drew  off  these  names  onto  individual  cards  made  in 
duplicate.  There  were  32,000  such.  The  census  sheets  were 
then  turned  over  to  the  revision  and  classification  committee 
which  put  a  red  check  against  the  names  of  individuals  who  had 
no  occupation  away  from  home  but  w^ho,  nevertheless,  had  in- 
comes. This  was  the  first  operation  which  required  the  exer- 
cise of  judgment,  and  it  required  a  good  deal.  The  red-checked 
names  were  then  taken  off  onto  cards  made  in  duplicate  of  a 
form  slightly  different  from  that  used  for  the  blue-checked 
names.  Finally  the  remaining  names  were  taken  off  onto  Home 
Guard  cards,  of  which  there  were  27,000,  these  also  in  duplicate. 
Thus  there  was  created  a  prospect  list  covering  substantially 
everyone  in  the  city.  At  least  it  was  intended  to  be  all-inclu- 
sive and  probably  came  as  near  being  so  as  was  possible. 

The  second  method  of  making  use  of  the  material  on  the 
census  sheets  is  that  practiced  by  Terre  Haute  and  Meriden. 
Under  their  plan  the  census  was  used  as  a  means  of  checking  up 
the  work  of  solicitors,  the  material  gathered  through  the  census 
not  being  transcribed  onto  cards.  The  details  of  this  use  in 
Meriden  may  be  found  elsewhere.  It  should  be  said  perhaps 
at  this  point  that  this  plan  does  not  conduce  to  speed  and  ease 
of  operation  during  the  campaign  week  and  that  while  the 
Springfield  plan  involves  much  more  preliminary  work,  which — 
unless  it  is  volunteer — is  very  expensive,  it  does  simplify  the 
task  during  the  w^eek  of  the  campaign. 

60 


The  third  method,  employed  where  the  whole  emphasis  was 
laid  upon  house-to-house  solicitation  and  where  the  division 
among  teams  was  purely  geographical,  was  to  use  the  census 
sheets  themselves  as  prospect  cards.  In  view  of  what  is  said 
elsewhere  with  regard  to  reliance  upon  house-to-house  solicita- 
tions, this  is  deemed  an  unwise  practice. 

The  fourth  method  of  using  the  results  of  the  census  is  what 
may  be  called,  for  convenience,  the  Ohio  method,  the  census 
being  intended  to  serve  a  purpose  primarily  educational.  The 
only  use  made  of  the  cards  during  the  campaign  was  that  after 
scrutiny  a  committee  placed  a  check  against  the  names  of  such 
persons  as  had  incomes  but  no  places  of  emploj^ment  away  from 
home.  This  built  up  a  list  of  prospects  for  the  homes  division. 
Their  census  enabled  them  to  reach  this  relatively  small  but 
none  the  less  important  group  and  served  as  a  valuable  basis  for 
checking  up  results  after  the  campaign  was  over. 

The  census  is  without  question  the  most  complete  and  accu- 
rate method  of  building  a  prospect  list.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
however  that  even  in  its  fullest  development  it  has  no  short- 
comings. It  requires  a  tremendous  amount  of  energy  and  time, 
and,  unless  great  care  is  exercised,  expense.  It  needs  to  be  done 
long  enough  before  the  war  chest  campaign  begins  so  that  the 
solicitors  and  public  will  not  be  tired  when  the  main  event  takes 
place,  and  so  that  there  is  plenty  of  opportunity  for  transcription 
of  names,  etc.  It  requires  a  great  deal  of  preliminary  organiza- 
tion and  energetic  guidance  as  well  as  emphasis  upon  accuracy 
and  thoroughness,  if  it  is  to  have  any  value.  For  unless  the 
census  is  almost  one  hundred  per  cent,  complete  it  is  worse  than 
useless.  Poorly  done,  it  is  an  obstruction  to  success  rather  than 
a  help. 

At  best,  mistakes  are  certain  to  be  numerous  because  of 
errors  on  the  part  of  the  census-takers  and  errors  in  transcrip- 
tion due  to  illegible  writing  and  to  stenographers'  errors.  Fur- 
thermore, cities  which  have  a  commuting  body  of  workers  cannoti 
reach  through  the  census  all  who  ought  to  contribute.  Many 
who  work  in  the  city  but  do  not  live  there  should  make  contribu- 
tions to  the  city  war  chest,  since  their  income  is  derived  from' 
that  source  and  also  because  they  can  be  more  effectively 
reached  at  their  places  of  employment. '  This  means  that  one  of 
tv/o  things,  and  sometimes  both,  must  be  done  in  order  to  over- 
come the  difficulty.  Either  the  war  chest  should  be  mfeide  inclu- 
sive of  suburbs  and  surrounding  country,  or  the  census  should 
be  supplemented  and  corrected  by  the  use  of  the  pay-rolls  of 
factories  and  stores.     Both  are  advisable. 

In  some  localities,  moreover,  the  problem  of  taking  the  cen- 
sus is  almost  insurmountable-.  In  one  city  with  a  large  body  of 
unskilled  labor,  made  up  chiefly  of  aliens,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  have  the  police  department  take  the  census  sheets  to  the 
boarding-house  proprietors  and  notify  them  that  they  would  be 

61 


held  responsible  for  properly  filling  out  the  blanks.  Even  when 
that  had  been  completed  it  was  found  that  between  the  5th  and 
20th  of  May  there  had  been,  among  that  element  of  the  popula- 
tion, a  thirty  per  cent,  removal.  This  astonishing  percentage 
more  or  less  seriously  impaired  the  value  of  the  work  which  had 
been  done  in  making  up  the  census.  In  view  of  this  it  was 
suggested  that  the  work  of  ''blue-checking"  off  the  names  of 
those  with  employment  away  from  home  by  the  transfer  com- 
mittee should  be  done  with  somewhat  more  discretion,  that  only 
those  employed  away  from  home  in  establishments  so  small  that 
they  would  not  be  approached  as  groups  should  be  blue-checked 
and  transcribed  onto  prospect  cards,  and  that  the  remainder 
should  be  green-checked,  instead  of  blue-checked,  and  not  tran- 
scribed, the  solicitation  being  made  on  the  basis  of  the  factory 
pay-roll  as  a  prospect  list.  This  would  largely  obviate  the  dif- 
ficulty with  regard  to  commuters,  would  prevent  labor  turn-over 
from  destroying  the  usefulness  of  some  prospect  cards  in  the 
period  between  the  census  and  solicitation,  and  would  save  an 
immense  am.ount  of  transcribing  without  impairing  results. 

Other  Methods. 

Various  methods  have  been  developed  for  making  out  a 
prospect  list  by  means  other  than  the  patriotic  census.  A  num- 
ber of  cities  have  built  their  prospect  lists  on  the  basis  of  the 
city  directory,  using  in  addition  the  telephone  directory,  club 
lists,  etc.  This  has  the  result  in  most  cases  that  only  the  house- 
holder is  listed  and  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  at  the  time  of  the 
campaign  whether  there  are  others  in  the  home  who  should 
contribute.  If  properly  done,  the  results  under  this  plan  are 
successful.  It  is  of  interest,  however,  to  remark  that  in  one 
city  where  there  was  a  new  up-to-date  directory,  which  was 
supposed  to  be  accurate,  there  were  as  a  matter  of  fact  so  many 
errors  that  at  the  close  of  the  campaign,  when  suggestions  were 
called  for,  one  of  the  most  popular  was  that  an  up-to-date  direc- 
tory be  used.  This  indicates  the  fact  that  the  directory  method 
is,  under  the  best  of  circumstances,  defective. 

A  second  method  is  to  build  a  prospect  list  on  the  basis  of 
those  who  have  given  to  previous  funds.  This  was  done  perhaps 
as  carefully  as  anywhere  in  Cleveland,  which  began  preparations 
in  November  for  a  campaign  that  was  to  be  staged  in  May.  The 
system  of  prospect  cards,  moreover,  had  been  in  process  of  de- 
velopment for  two  years,  so  that  they  were  both  accurate  and 
relatively  complete.  Northampton,  in  like  manner,  built  its 
prospect  list  largely  on  the  basis  of  those  who  had  given  to  the 
Red  Cross — either  for  its  war  fund  or  for  its  local  chapter — and 
to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  K.  of  C,  War  Camp  Community 
Service,  Armenian  and  Syrian  Relief,  Polish  Relief,  Jewish 
Relief,  the  local  churches,  and  also  those  who  had  purchased 

62 


Liberty  bonds.  This  plan  facilitates  recording  on  the  prospect 
cards  what  a  man  has  done  previously,  which  serves  as  an  index 
to  the  rating  committee,  if  not  of  what  he  ought  to  do,  at  least 
of  what  he  may  be  expected  to  do. 

The  third  method  is  to  build  a  prospect  list  for  the  war  chest 
on  the  basis  of  Liberty  loan  campaign  cards,  which,  in  some 
communities,  have  been  very  thoroughly  worked  out  and  which 
form,  therefore,  a  complete  index  of  those  who  may  be  expected 
to  give  individually  outside  their  places  of  employment. 

The  fourth  method  was  developed  by  a  mid-western  city 
which  found  it  necessary  to  act  in  haste.  The  committee  sent 
out  a  letter  to  all  the  employers  of  the  city — over  two  thousand 
in  number — and  requested  that  a  list  be  sent  in  of  all  officials 
and  employees  who  earned  $1,800  or  more  annually.  This  list 
was  supplemented  by  reference  to  those  who  had  contributed  in 
the  previous  money-raising  campaign. 

Prospect  Cards. 

The  material  carried  on  the  prospect  cards  differs  consider- 
ably in  different  localities,  some  being  very  much  more  elaborate 
than  others.  The  prospect  card  of  Youngstown,  Ohio,  carried 
only  the  name  and  address.  These  names  and  addresses  were 
not  entered  on  individual  cards  but  in  an  enrollment  book  which 
was  made  out  in  duplicate  and  numbered,  one  copy  going  to  the 
captain  and  one  to  the  worker.  There  were  spaces  for"  sixty 
names,  all  for  which  any  single  worker  was  supposed  to  be 
accountable.  These  were  made  out  by  the  captains  before  the 
campaign  opened,  over  1250  such  cards  being  made. 

The  prospect  card  of  Albany  carried,  beside  the  name  and 
address,  the  'phone  number,  and  the  business  address  of  the 
prospect.  Coshocton,  Ohio,  had  a  prospect  card  showing  the 
name  and  address,  place  of  employment,  whether  married  or 
single,  number  of  dependents  without  income,  taxable  property,' 
estimated  net  worth,  yearly  income,  and  a  place  for  remarks. 
Batavia,  N.  Y.,  carried  beside  name  and  address,  whether  owner 
or  tenant,  number  of  acres,  occupation,  name  of  employer, 
annual  income,  property  both  real  and  personal,  where  born, 
whether  naturalized  or  not,  the  name  of  the  wife,  number  of 
boys  and  girls  and  ages,  church  affiliation,  lodge  affiliation, 
Liberty  loan  subscriptions,  and  donations  to  previous  war  relief 
funds. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  had  two  types  of  prospect  card.  The 
first,  for  the  homes  division,  was  made  up  to  show  the  ward  and 
precinct,  street  and  number,  the  class  and  serial  number,  with 
spaces  for  eight  names  with  the  surname,  then  the  first  name 
and  initial,  age,  and  a  column  to  report  subscriptions.  This  was 
signed  by  the  solicitor  together  with  his  team  number  and  divi- 

63 


sion  and  was  made  out  with  carbon  duplicate  on  the  typewriter. 
Those  who  were  to  be  solicited  in  groups  had  a  card  which 
showed  the  class  and  serial  number,  the  place  of  business,  name, 
address,  occupation;  previous  subscriptions  to  Red  Cross, 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  K.  of  C,  Jewish  Relief,  and  local  hospitals;  and 
space  to  record  the  sulDScription  or  the  reason  for  refusal;  also 
the  name  of  solicitor,  his  team  number  and  division.  There  was, 
beside,  a  space  in  which  a  rating  could  be  put. 

When  one  approaches  the  problem  of  answering  the  ques- 
tion what  a  prospect  card  ought  to  carry,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
more  personal  information  as  to  a  man's  name,  address,  occupa- 
tion that  appears,  the  more  valuable  it  is  to  the  solicitor  in  seek- 
ing a  subscription.  It  is  well  to  have  it  carry  some  class  or 
serial  number  or  both  for  convenience  in  recording,  so  that  the 
office  force  will  not  have  to  copy  so  many  names  in  recording 
which  team  is  responsible  for  certain  prospect  cards.  It  should 
also  carry  space  for  the  solicitor's  name  and  team  number,  for 
the  amount  of  the  subscription  secured  and  for  the  reason  for 
refusal.  The  question  whether  it  should  carry  a  space  for  a 
rating  is  dealt  with  in  the  subsequent  section.  It  is  practically 
certain  that  if  it  carries  a  rating  it  ought  not  to  carry  a  record 
of  previous  subscriptions.  It  is  quite  proper  for  the  record  of 
those  subscriptions  to  be  collated  for  the  use  of  the  rating  com- 
mittee, but  it  is  not  desirable  that  they  should  be  recorded  on  a 
card  which  goes  to  the  solicitor.  The  difficulty  in  not  doing  so, 
however,  is  a  physical  one,  namely,  that  it  would  mean  the  mak- 
ing out  of  two  sets  of  cards,  one  for  the  use  of  the  rating  com- 
mittee and  another  for  the  solicitor. 

In  the  homes  division  there  is  not  the  same  need  for  elabora- 
tion because,  as  already  indicated,  the  work  here  is  chiefly  the 
work  of  the  gleaner  and  large  results  cannot  be  expected.  There 
is  no  reason  therefore  that  this  card  should  not  cover  a  whole 
household,  save  for  those  to  be  reached  at  their  places  of  employ- 
ment, particularly  since  the  assignment  is  purely  geographical. 

The  prospect  card  should  always  be  made  out  on  a  type- 
writer with  a  carbon  duplicate  to  serve  as  a  master  list. 
Rochester  had  a  double  master  list,  one  made  up  of  the  names 
printed  alphabetically  on  sheets  fastened  on  a  long  counter  so 
that  workers  could  see  whether  names  of  friends  had  been 
requisitioned  by  anyone  else.  The  second  master  list  consisted 
of  the  duplicates  of  the  cards  themselves  which  were  kept  in  the 
hands  of  the  team  secretary. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  had  a  double  master  list  system.  In  the 
first  place  the  prospect  cards  assigned  to  each  team  were 
charged  against  that  team  at  headquarters  and  in  the  card  con- 
trol book  of  the  regimental  secretary.  In  the  second  place  the 
carbon  duplicates  were  filed  alphabetically  according  to  their 
classes  in  large  trays  which  were  built  for  the  purpose. 

64 


Rating. 

The  discussion  of  what  the  prospect  card  should  carry  leads 
inevitably  to  the  question  whether  it  should  bear  the  amount 
which  the  individual  is  expected  to  contribute — that  is,  whether 
the  prospective  givers  should  be  rated.  Difference  of  opinion 
on  this  topic  is  sharp. 

Some  cities  strongly  disapproved  the  practice.  Columbus, 
Ohio,  did  not  use  a  system  of  rating  and  those  in  charge  there 
feel  that  it  created  a  great  deal  of  good  feeling  not  to  do  so. 
They  believe  that  the  atmosphere  created  by  rating  will  be  bad. 
The  method  employed  in  that  city  was  to  call  in  to  group  meet- 
ings on  successive  days  those  who  might  be  expected  to  give 
fairly  large  amounts.  These  were  addressed  by  the  vice- 
president  of  the  war  chest,  Mr.  Fred  Miller,  who  pointed  out  to 
them  in  a  remarkable  address  the  problem  which  the  com- 
munity faced  and  brought  home  realization  of  the  fact  that  if 
Columbus  was  to  succeed  in  raising  $3,000,000  persons  of  large 
means  would  have  to  give  at  least  in  accordance  with  the  pub- 
lished scale.  Nevertheless,  even  in  Columbus,  the  prospect 
cards  were  looked  over  with  the  solicitor,  who  was  given  some 
idea  of  how  much  the  man  might  give,  though  he  was  specifically 
and  definitely  instructed  not  to  mention  that  amount  save  inso- 
far as  he  might  do  so  on  the  grounds  of  personal  intimacy  or  in 
response  to  a  confidential  question. 

The  method  was  not  widely  different  in  Albany.  In  Albany 
rating  was  resorted  to,  but  it  was  done  onlj^  as  an  aid  to  the 
solicitor  rather  than  as  a  suggestion  to  the  prospective  sub- 
scriber. The  idea  underlying  this  was  that  the  solicitor  is  a 
salesman  and  that  he  ought  to  have  some  guide  as  to  what  his 
customer  can  afford  or  is  likely  to  want.  This  information  was 
regarded  as  confidential  and  was  not  to  be  understood  as  an 
assessment  or  the  levy  of  a  tax. 

In  other  cases  the  rating  was  used  very  largely  as  a  method 
of  classifying  the  cards  in  order  to  assist  in  the  creation  of 
competition.  This  was  notably  the  case  in  Springfield,  Mass. 
The  committee  in  that  city  discovered  that  the  problem  of  team 
competition  had  been  growing  more  difficult.  The  cards  were 
rated,  therefore,  but  not  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  assess- 
ment nor  even  primarily  for  the  use  of  the  solicitor,  but  in 
order  that  the  teams  might  have  a  relatively  equal  chance  in 
competition  with  one  another.  Thus  the  committee  on  revision 
and  classification  divided  the  prospect  cards  into  classes  from 
A  to  F,  Class  A  being  made  up  of  large  corporations  which 
were  expected  to  give  $3,000  or  more;  Class  B  of  banks;  Class 
C  of  individuals  of  large  means  v/ho  might  be  expected  to  make 
contributions  of  $3,000  or  more;  Class  D  of  individuals  such 
as  managers  of  businesses,  superintendents,  foremen,  mer- 
chants, lawyers,  etc.,  and  also  small  firms,  partnerships,  and 

65 


small  corporations  which  might  be  expected  to  give  less  than 
$8,000;  Class  E  of  employees  of  large  manufacturing,  mercan- 
tile, contracting,  and  banking  establishments  grouped  as  a  unit 
under  the  name  of  the  firm;  Class  F  of  men  and  women  living 
at  home  with  no  places  of  business  outside.  This  classification 
obviously  assisted  the  work  of  rating  and  the  larger  givers 
were  assigned  to  the  so-called  *'Navy",  making  certain  that  each 
''fleet"  got  equal  amounts  of  prospects.  In  like  manner  indus- 
trial plants  were  divided  so  that  an  equal  amount  of  prospects 
went  to  each  team.  This  involved  a  tremendous  amount  of  la- 
bor, but  analysis  of  the  totals  discloses  the  fact  that  it  succeed- 
ed in  restoring  keen  competition. 

Springfield  not  only  rated  individual  cards  but  also  made 
group  ratings,  which  is  a  very  much  simpler  process.  The 
method  used  was  to  learn  the  number  of  employees  and  the 
amount  of  the  weekly  pay-roll  in  any  given  establishment  and 
then  virtually  to  apply  the  sliding  scale  to  the  average  pay  in 
that  factory  or  shop.  Thus,  a  concern  with  five  hundred  em- 
ployees who  received  a  total  of  $10,000  a  week  and  a  concern 
with  a  thousand  employees  who  received  only  $10,000  a  week 
would  have  an  equal  group  rating,  which  would  mean  that  the 
employees  of  the  first  would  be  called  upon  to  give  an  average 
of,  say,  $24.00  a  year  while  the  employees  of  the  second  would 
be  called  upon  to  give  an  average  of  only  $12.00  a  year.  When 
the  ratio  of  employees  to  the  pay-roll  was  so  low  that  the  wages 
were  obviously  unusually  high  the  employees  were  called  upon 
to  give  a  larger  amount  in  proportion.  This,  again,  was  done 
chiefly  for  purposes  of  assignment  of  prospects  among  teams. 
It  was  frankly  stated  that  ''there  will  be  variations  in  the  re- 
sults obtained  of  course,  as  this  is  not  a  government  assessment 
but  a  voluntary  offering.  If,  however,  the  same  general  ratio 
method  is  used  in  assessing  all  factory  groups  the  spirit  of  com- 
petition which  we  desire  to  foster  will  be  preserved  and  en- 
couraged between  the  teams  to  which  these  group  cards 
eventually  go."     Experience  justified  that  prediction. 

Utica,  N.  Y.,  rated  the  cards  on  the  basis  of  a  group  system, 
sorting  them  into  classes  and  marking  in  the  corner  of  each  the 
minimum  amount  which  members  of  that  class  should  contri- 
bute. Some  of  the  individuals  there  felt  that  this  was  not  the 
best  practice  to  follow  on  the  ground  that  class  rating  has  a 
tendency  to  emphasize  the  low^est  figure  within  the  class,  and 
if  a  man  sees  that  he  is  in  the  $5.00  a  month  class  and  the  next 
above  is  a  $10.00  a  month  class  he  is  more  likely  to  give  $5.00 
a  month  than  $7.00  or  $8.00  as  he  perhaps  should. 

The  method  of  reaching  the  amount  which  is  to  be  suggest- 
ed on  the  prospect  card  differs  as  widely  as  the  practice  of  rat- 
ing itself.  Sometimes  the  amount  is  suggested  by  the  census- 
taker  on  the  basis  of  his  observation  of  living  conditions,  etc. 

66 


Sometimes  it  is  done  by  collating  the  records  of  previous  con- 
tributions and  taking  a  total  for  the  year  and  adding  somewhat 
thereto  because  of  the  increased  demands.  This  has  the  effect 
of  rating  a  man  according  to  his  previous  generosity  or  parsi- 
mony rather  than  his  ability.  Sometimes  it  is  done  by  the 
executive  committee  on  the  basis  of  personal  acquaintance  and 
impressions.  The  most  complete  and  accurate  method  was 
used  in  cities  which  had  a  special  committee  which  regard- 
ed the  work  not  as  something  which  they  were  to  do  themselves 
but  which  they  were  to  supervise.  In  several  cities  this  com- 
mittee enlisted  the  assistance  of  bankers,  credit  men  in  the 
stores,  tax  assessors,  and  numerous  others  in  position  to  have 
inside  information.  In  consequence,  the  ratings  suggested  by 
these  experts,  which  were  checked  with  what  the  individuals  had 
done  in  previous  drives,  were  extraordinarily  accurate. 

Emphasis  should  be  laid  at  this  point  upon  the  fact  that 
where  rating  is  done  it  ought  to  be  done  in  relation  to  some  total 
— specifically  that  part  of  the  amount  to  be  raised  which  the 
wealthier  group  should  contribute.  Mr.  H.  E.  Freeman  of 
Springfield,  Ohio,  in  the  preliminary  studies  for  the  campaign 
in  that  city  decided  that  on  the  basis  of  the  experience  of  other 
localities  the  fund  should  be  raised  in  approximately  the  follow- 
ing proportions:  40%  from  wage-earners,  30%  from  larger  in- 
dividual givers,  and  30%  from  corporations.  On  this  basis  he 
analyzed  somewhat  further  and,  estimating  the  number  of  in- 
comes between  various  figures,  he  built  a  sliding  scale  which 
would  produce  the  proper  percentage,  namely,  30%  of  the  quota. 
This  work  was  done  equally  carefully  in  certain  other  cities, 
as  will  be  shown  in  a  subsequent  section,  but  this  case  illustrates 
the  manner  in  which,  if  rating  is  to  be  done,  it  should  be  done, 
that  is,  with  a  definite  goal  in  mind  and  not  simply  arbitrarily 
or  in  an  effort  to  get  the  largest  possible  amount  irrespective  of 
what  others  are  called  upon  to  do. 

Where  the  group  quota  is  fixed  thus  accurately  and  where 
the  individual  ratings  are  done  expertly,  there  is  very  little  to 
complain  of.  Indeed  most  givers,  as  experience  indicates,  wel- 
come a  suggestion  as  to  what  their  proper  shares  may  be.  A 
published  scale  of  giving  is  an  assistance,  but  unless  it  is  made 
too  complicated  to  be  generally  understood  it  cannot  make  pro- 
vision for  the  personal  circumstances  of  an  individual.  On  the 
other  hand,  rating  if  done  confidentially  by  able  men,  is  much 
better  than  a  scale  because  individual  circumstances  can  be 
taken  into  account. 

My  conclusion  with  regard  to  this  practice  is  that  it  must 
be  done  very  tenderly.  At  best  it  is  making  somewhat  free 
with  a  man's  private  concerns — if  there  are  private  concerns 
any  more.  If  done  it  involves  an  obligation  that  the  card  when 
rated  by  intimate  business  associates  on  the  basis  of  confiden- 
tial information  shall  not  be  promiscuously  handed  about  but 

67 


shall  be  assigned  only  to  a  discreet  person,  preferably  a  friend. 
This  involves  a  very  careful  program  of  requisition  and  assign- 
ment of  prospect  cards. 

Furthermore  the  rating  should  be  used  primarily  for  pur- 
poses of  distributing  the  cards  among  teams ;  secondarily  as  an 
assistance  to  the  solicitor  in  making  his  sale;  and  finally,  and 
only  finally,  as  a  helpful  suggestion  to  the  individual.  It  should 
never  be  regarded  as  an  assessment  or  tax.  This  does  not  mean, 
of  course,  that  a  person  notably  and  conspicuously  failing  to  do 
his  share  shall  not  be  asked  to  do  more,  but  it  does  mean  that 
the  solicitor  shall  not  insist  upon  the  individual  giving  the 
amount  for  which  he  is  rated. 

Suggested  Amounts. 

Not  everybody  can  be  rated.  It  is  only  fair  to  those  who 
are  that  others  should  be  made  acquainted  as  definitely  as  pos- 
sible with  their  responsibilities  if  the  goal  of  the  campaign  is  to 
be  reached.  To  this  end  many  cities  have  published  a  sliding 
scale  to  serve  as  a  guide,  by  the  use  of  which  the  individual 
may  determine  his  equitable  share  of  the  community  gift. 

As  nearly  as  one  can  judge  these  scales  have  ordinarily 
been  based  simply  upon  a  general  notion  of  what  various  classes 
of  income  ought  to  produce  in  the  way  of  gifts.  Occasionally 
however  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  find  a  rational  basis  for 
the  scale  which  is  published.  In  Columbus  the  committee  had 
statistics  from  the  Ohio  Department  of  Labor  which  showed 
various  groups  among  wage-earners,  etc.  On  the  basis  of  these 
they  figured  that  if  everybody  in  every  factory  gave  at  the 
ratio  of  ''one  to  thirty-one" — i.  e.,  roughly  4% — it  would  pro- 
duce $720,000.  They  did  not  expect  everyone  to  give,  nor  did 
they  expect  that  all  who  did  give  would  give  4%.  Therefore 
they  set  the  quota  of  the  wage-earners  at  $400,000.  The  quotas 
of  the  other  classes  were  not  figured  with  equal  care  and  the 
results  did  not  entirely  justify  the  estimates  which  had  been 
made.  Dayton,  Ohio,  attempted  after  having  fixed  a  war  chest 
goal  to  make  a  distribution  among  the  various  classes  of  the 
community  on  the  basis  of  wealth,  earnings,  and  other  data. 

Detroit  took  great  pains  in  producing  a  schedule.  The 
committee  did  no  rating  at  all  but  depended  solely  upon  the 
published  schedule.  They  made  estimates  on  the  basis  of  mat- 
ter gotten  from  banking  institutions,  from  factory  pay-rolls, 
from  Dun  and  Bradstreet,  from  the  tax  list,  and  from  other 
sources  of  information.  From  these  investigations  they  esti- 
mated that  the  income  of  Detroit  was  about  $350,000,000,  that 
about  $150,000,000  went  to  those  who  earned  over  $3,000  a  year 
and  $200,000,000  to  the  wage  group.  It  was  then  decided  that 
a  fair  share  for  the  v/age-earners,  if  the  total  demand  was  $7,- 
000,000,  would  be  $2,000,000— that  is,  about  28.6%  of  the  total. 


This  is  to  be  contrasted  with  the  40%  figure  mentioned  in  the 
previous  section  for  Springfield,  Ohio.  When  this  total  of 
$2,000,000  was  applied  to  the  wage  income  it  appeared  that  it 
was  roughly  1%,  but  inasmuch  as  it  was  impossible  to  hope  that 
every  wage-earner  would  give,  and  since  it  was  certain  that 
some  could  not  give  as  much  as  1%,  the  committee,  in  order  to 
reach  a  1%  average  gift  for  the  total  wage  group,  set  2%  as  the 
norm  and  published  a  scale  accordingly.  This  left  $5,000,000 
out  of  $7,000,000  as  the  share  of  the  capital  group,  and  having 
statistics  as  to  the  sorts  of  income  in  that  group,  they  made  a 
graduated  table  making  no  provision,  it  ought  to  be  pointed 
out,  for  corporation  gifts,  which  the  Springfield,  Ohio,  estimate 
expected  would  produce  30%  of  the  total.  Youngstown,  Ohio, 
after  making  estimates  figured  that  the  pay-rolls  amounted  to 
about  $60,000,000  a  year  and  dividends  to  about  $60,000,000  a 
year.  The  committee  then  decided  that  the  wage  group  should 
pay  about  33  1-3%  of  the  total  and  the  capital  group  66  2-3%. 
This  amounted,  roughly,  to  1%  of  the  pay-roll  and  2%  of  the 
dividends,  but  there  was  not  the  same  effort  as  in  Detroit  to 
graduate  the  scale  accurately  among  the  various  classes  of  the 
capital  group. 

It  is  interesting  to  check  these  estimates  with  what  was 
actually  produced.  In  Columbus  the  wage  group  produced 
something  like  36%  of  the  total  amount  and  the  average  gift 
appears  to  have  been  about  2%  of  a  normal  wage,  or  a  trifle 
under.  In  Rome  the  wage  group  produced  22%  of  the  total 
gift,  80%  of  the  total  number  of  givers,  and  the  average  gift 
appears  to  have  been  something  like  1.3%  of  a  normal  wage. 
In  Rochester  the  wage  group  produced  27%  of  the  total  amount, 
72%  of  the  number  of  givers,  and  the  average  gift  was  about 
1.5%  of  an  average  income.  In  Utica  36%  of  the  total  gift  came 
from  employees.  In  Springfield,  Ohio,  48%  came  from  employ- 
ees, as  against  an  expectation  of  40%.  Corporations,  however, 
appear  to  have  produced  not  over  20%,  as  against  an  expecta- 
tion of  30%.  Dayton,  Ohio,  set  the  expectation  from  wage- 
earners  at  about  35%  and  the  realization  was  about  54%  in 
amount.  72%  of  the  number  of  givers  were  in  the  wage  group. 
Anaconda,  Mont.,  produced  62%  of  the  total  amount  of  its  gift 
from  the  wage  group.  These  figures  thus  thrown  together  are 
obviously  not  precisely  comparable,  because  different  cities  de- 
fine the  term  ''wage-earners"  somewhat  differently,  though  in 
general  they  include  factory,  store,  utility,  and  public  employ- 
ees. Variations  in  the  figures,  m.oreover,  are  caused  by  the 
different  types  of  communities.  In  som.e  communities  the  wage 
group  is  far  more  predominant  than  in  others.  Again,  the  dif- 
ferences in  the  figures  reflect  the  variant  distribution  of  de- 
mand upon  the  several  classes  of  the  giving  public  in  different 
cities.  Nevertheless,  despite  their  rough  character  and  despite 
the  fact  that  many  allowances  have  to  be  made,  the  figures  have 

69 


a  real  significance  for  cities  which  are  planning  war  chests  and 
serve  as  an  index  to  expectation. 

It  may  be  worth  while  also  to  give  a  tabulation  of  sub- 
scriptions by  amounts  in  one  or  two  cities  in  order  to  furnish 
some  index  of  normal  distribution.  In  Syracuse  the  result  of 
tabulation  as  of  July  2,  1917,  was  as  follows : 


Subscriptions 

Number 

Amount 

$          0.25 

97 

$  24.25 

.50 

139 

69.50 

1.00 

530 
766 

530.00 

Total 

$623.75 

$          1.20 

88 

$105.60 

1.80 

7 

12.60 

2.00 

164 

328.00 

2.40 

96 

230.40 

3.00 

952 

2,856.00 

3.60 

3 

10.80 

4.00 

27 

108.00 

4.80 

109 

523.20 

5.00 

520 

2,600.00 

6.00 

1,769 

10,614.00 

7.20 

46 

331.20 

9.00 

260 

2,340.00 

12.00 

22,336 

268,032.00 

13.00 

2,058 

26,754.00 

Total 

28,435 

$314,845.80 

$        15.00 

77 

1,155.00 

18.00 

134 

2,412.00 

24.00 

1,620 

38,880.00 

30.00 

81 

2,430.00 

36.00 

246 

8,856.00 

Total 

2,158 

$  53,733.00 

$        48.00 

275 

13,200.00 

60.00 

865 

51,900.00 

72.00 

23 

1,656.00 

84.00 

7 

588.00 

96.00 

79 

7,584.00 

120.00 

412 

49,440.00 

Difference 

in  Odd  Amounts 

8,028.98 

Total 

1,661 

$132,396.98 

70 


Subscriptions 

Number 

Amount 

$      144.00 

53 

7,632.00 

200.00 

54 

10,800.00 

240.00 

60 

14,400.00 

300.00 

130 

39,000.00 

323.20 

1 

323.20 

360.00 

6 

2,160.00 

400.00 

3 

1,200.00 

420.00 

2 

840.00 

480.00 

7 

3,360.00 

500.00 

20 

10,000.00 

Difference 

in  Odd  Amounts 

8,028.98 

Total 

336 

$  97,744.18 

$      600.00 

42 

%  25,200.00 

700.00 

1 

700.00 

800.00 

2 

1,600.00 

900.00 

6 

5,400.00 

1,000.00 

17 

17,000.00 

Total 

68 

$  49,900.00 

?  1,200.00 

39 

46,800.00 

1,303.30 

1 

1,303.30 

1,500.00 

2 

3,000.00 

1,800.00 

5 

90,000.00 

2,000.00 

5 

10,000.00 

2,400.00 

9 

21,600.00 

2,500.00 

2 

5,000.00 

3,000.00 

8 

24,000.00 

3,600.00 

2 

7,200.00 

4,000.00 

1 

4,000.00 

4,800.00 

2 

9,600.00 

5,000.00 

4 

20,000.00 

Total 

80 

$161,503.80 

?  6,000.00 

7 

42,000.00 

7,000.00 

1 

7,000.00 

7,500.00 

2 

15,000.00 

8,650.00 

1 

8,650.00 

9,000.00 

1 

9,000.00 

10,000.00 

2 

20,000.00 

Total 

14 

$101,650.00 

71 


Subscriptions 

$12,000.00 
24,000.00 
25,000.00 
30,000.00 


Total 


Number 

9 
2 
1 
1 


Amount 

108,000.00 
48,000.00 
25,000.00 
30,000.00 


13 


Special  Bank  Dividends 
Grand  Total 


$211,000.00 
36,000.00 

$1,159,397.01 


In  Salem,  Mass.,  the  result  as  of  May  31,  1918,  for  monthly 
subscriptions  only,  was  as  follows: 


Amount 

)    290.25 

267.50 

1.50 

6,756.00 


Subscriptions 

Number 

$            .25 

1161 

.50 

535 

.75 

2 

1.00 

6756 

Total 

8454 

$          1.25 

9 

1.50 

57 

1.75 

1 

2.00 

332 

2.50 

38 

3.00 

73 

3.25 

2 

3.33 

2 

3.34 

1 

3.50 

2 

4.00 

39 

4.50 

2 

4.70 

1 

5.00 

204 

6.00 

11 

7.00 

3 

7.50 

1 

8.00 

9 

8.50 

1 

10.00 

84 

12.00 

2 

12.50 

8 

$       7,315.25 


11.25 

85.50 

1.75 

664.00 

95.00 

219.00 

6.50 

6.66 

3.34 

7.00 

156.00 

9.00 

4.70 

1,020.00 

66.00 

21.00 

7.50 

72.00 

8.50 

840.00 

24.00 

100.00 


Total 


882 


$       3,428.70 


.72 


Subscriptions 

Number                        Amount 

15.00 

19                                285.00 

' 

16.00 

2                                  32.00 

20.00 

14                               280.00 

20.75 

1                                  20.75 

21.00 

1                                  21.00 

25.00 

35                                875.00 

30.00 

6                                180.00 

35.00 

4                                140.00 

37.50 

2                                  75.00 

40.00 

2                                  80.00 

45.00 

1                                 45.00 

Total 

87                                          $ 

2,033.75 

$        50.00 

17                               850.00 

60.00 

3                               180.00 

75.00 

2                               150.00 

100.00 

13                            1,300.00 

125.00 

1                               125.00 

Total 

36                                          $ 

2,605.00 

$      200.00 

3                          $    600.00 

250.00 

'4                            1,000.00 

300.00 

3                               900.00 

500.00 

3                            1,500.00 

Total 

13                                            $ 

4,000.00 

Difference  in  Odd  Amounts               $ 
Grand  Total                      $ 

419.00 

19,801.70 

In  making  up  scales  it  is  probably  not  possible,  nor  is  it 
advisable,  to  have  absolute  uniformity  among  communities 
which  adopt  war  chests.  In  each  individual  case  there  should  be 
a  careful  statistical  study  along  the  lines  suggested  in  the  cases 
of  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  Detroit.  This  requires  a  man  or 
group  of  men  of  large  ability  and  much  patience.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  care  must  be  taken  to  set  the  demand  upon  labor  low 
enough  and  the  demand  upon  capital  high  enough  so  as  not  to 
alienate  the  mass  of  givers.  It  should  be  remembered,  too,  that 
this  scale  ought  to  be  drawn  on  such  a  basis  that  in  the  pres- 
sure for  100%  subscriptions  among  working  men  no  serious 
hardship  will  be  wrought.  There  is  no  benefit — there  is  indeed 
real  harm — in  taking  subscriptions  for  larger  amounts  than 
the  subscribers  ought  to  give.  It  is  further  desirable  and  nec- 
essary when  a  schedule  is  published  that  it  be  made  absolutely 

73 


clear  that  it  is  not  an  income  tax  but  simply  a  helpful  sugges- 
tion ;  and  it  is  unwise  to  incorporate  in  the  pledge  card  a  state- 
ment to  the  effect  that  the  pledge  is  such  and  such  a  per  cent, 
of  the  individual's  income  because  that  would  be  inequitable 
in  certain  cases.  Instead  the  plan  should  be  followed  which  has 
been  used  in  many  cities,  namely,  to  make  an  explicit  statement 
that  the  table  is  for  suggestive  purposes  only.  York,  Pa.,  pub- 
lished a  scale  of  great  flexibility,  showing  for  example  that 
earnings  from  $65.00  to  $100.00  a  month  should  produce  in 
normal  cases  from  $8.00  to  $18.00  a  year  and  the  committee 
published  with  the  scale  the  following  statement: 

''Remember  that  we  do  not  mean  to  fix  contributions  from  indi- 
viduals, employers,  or  employees.  That  would  be  absurd  or  at  least 
subject  to  just  resentment.  But  we  do  mean  that  contributions  by 
employees,  employers,  and  people  of  independent  means  will  have  to 
average  something  like  what  is  indicated  in  order  to  obtain  the  full 
quota  due  from  York  and  York  County  for  war  relief  work.*  *  *  Due 
allowance  must  always  be  made  for  large  families  of  small  children, 
and  for  sickness-,  and  sometimes  for  both.  So  that  many  who  have 
fewer  dependents  will  necessarily  have  to  give  generously  and  patriot- 
ically more  than  would  otherwise  be  their  proportion." 

Ordinarily  the  published  statement  is  not  quite  so  explicit  but 
the  York  statement  furnishes  a  fair  example  of  what  does  per- 
vade most  and  should  pervade  all.  Rochester  covered  still  an- 
other point  by  saying  at  the  end  of  its  scale: 

"It  is  perfectly  well  known  to  the  comnmunity  that  there  are  many 
people  in  Rochester  who  have  been  giving  in  larger  proportions  than 
the  above  standard  and  will  continue  to  do  so.  The  public  should  there- 
fore distinctly  understand  that  the  contribution  list  when  published 
does  not  furnish  a  key  to  the  subscriber's  income." 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  discussion  concerning  wheth- 
er schedules  ought  to  be  put  at  a  higher  figure  than  the  normal 
contribution  can  be  expected  to  be  or  whether  they  should  pre- 
sent an  accurate  reflection  of  the  statistical  studies.  It  has 
been  insisted  by  some  that  the  "one  to  thirty-one"  slogan,  which 
calls  for  4%,  is  a  mark  to  be  shot  at  rather  than  a  practicable 
ideal.  As  already  indicated,  the  workmen  of  Columbus  appear 
to  have  given  an  average  of  about  2%  of  their  wages,  which 
would  tend  to  substantiate  to  that  extent  the  argument  that 
the  "one  to  thirty-one"  slogan  represents  a  very  heavy  demand. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  the  4%  basis  feel  that  it  has 
good  psychological  value,  that  it  lends  itself  so  remarkably  to 
the  appeal  that  it  ought  to  be  retained,  and  that  it  is,  moreover, 
a  move  in  the  direction  of  bringing  the  public  to  understand  the 
sacrifices  which  are  going  to  be  necessary  as  the  war  assumes 
for  America  a  more  acutely  personal  stage. 

74 


On  the  other  hand,  Detroit,  Rochester,  and  certain  other 
cities  attempted  to  build  scales,  not  as  marks  to  be  shot  at,  but 
as  practical  possibilities.  From  this  point  of  view  it  seems 
fair  on  the  basis  of  experience  to  say  that  the  2%  minimum  is 
realized  in  practice  better  than  the  4%. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  in  publishing  a  sliding  scale  did  not  do 
it  entirely  officially.  At  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  there 
was  no  such  scale,  but  a  group  of  individuals  got  together,  drew 
up  a  scale  and  signed  it.  It  was  then  published  with  the  state- 
ment. 'The  undersigned,  with  the  sole  desire  of  establishing 
for  himself  and  for  others  an  equitable  basis  of  giving,  endorses 
the  following  schedule  and  in  his  ovfn  case  agrees  to  be  bound 
to  give  the  percentage  of  his  income  as  called  for  in  this  table." 
It  was  drawn  by  a  group  of  men  of  large  means,  and  scrutiny 
of  it  will  demonstrate  that  it  rises  at  a  fairly  rapid  rate,  so  that 
they  cannot  be  accused  of  attempting  to  dodge  their  responsibili- 
ties. This  plan  was  effective  in  giving  the  scale  prestige  and 
reality.  The  same  end  has  been  attained  in  other  cities  by  hav- 
ing all  those  who  became  solicitors  agree  to  give  in  accordance 
with  the  schedule.  It  is  worth  while,  wherever  possible,  to 
adopt  some  such  means  as  these  to  give  the  scale  greater  authori- 
ty or  influence  than  its  simple  publication  will  ensure. 

When  one  attempts  to  collate  the  various  scales  which  have 
been  published  it  appears  that  there  is  a  great  variety.  Look- 
ing first  at  the  minimum  request,  which  may  roughly  be  said 
to  be  that  which  is  asked  from  the  wage-earner,  it  appears  that 
there  is  variation  all  the  way  from  1/2%  to  4%.  Kalamazoo 
called  for  only  %%,  Sheboygan  for  %%.  Most  of  those  which 
reported  used  1%,  Ashland  114%  and  two  cities  1V2%-  A 
number  of  cities,  including  some  of  the  most  successful,  among 
them  Detroit  and  Rochester,  adopted  2%.  Kane,  Pa.,  used  3% 
and  several,  including  Columbus,  Indianapolis,  Philadelphia, 
Springfield,  Mass.,  and  Springfield,  Ohio,  4%. 

A  study  of  the  relative  speed  with  which  these  various 
schedules  rise  shows  that  there  is  as  great  difference  in  this 
matter  as  in  the  matter  of  the  minimum.  Some  cities  have 
simply  a  flat  rate.  Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  appears  to  have  asked 
for  1%  from  everyone  whatever  his  income  might  be.  Ely, 
Minn.,  appears  to  have  asked  everyone,  irrespective  of  income, 
to  give  $1.00  a  month.  Norwalk,  Ohio,  called  for  an  hour  a 
week,  which  is  not  a  flat  rate  only  if  it  is  assumed  that  people 
of  higher  income  work  a  less  number  of  hours  than  those  of 
less  income. 

In  order  to  get  a  rough  standard  one  may  say  that  those 
are  slow-rising  which  reach  5%  at  $20,000.  Such  cities  are 
Akron,  Ambridge  (which  has  a  3%  maximum).  Anaconda,  Bur- 
lington, Crawfordsville,  Dayton,  and  Detroit.  Others  are  very 
much  more  rapid  in  the  ascent  and  call  for  10%  at  $10,000. 

75 


Such  are  Albany,  Ashland,  Indianapolis,  Meriden,  Rome,  Salem, 
and  others.  These  are  mentioned  simply  as  examples,  for  there 
are  many  more.  It  indicates,  however,  the  diversity  which  is, 
with  all  proper  allowance  for  variant  conditions  in  individual 
localities,- somewhat  greater  than  the  situation  warrants  if  the 
burden  is  to  be  equitably  distributed.. 

In  many  cases  a  special  .effort  has  been  made  to  give  a 
separate  index  with  regard  to  what  farmers  should  do.  Albion, 
Mich.,  fig'ured  that  the  farmers  should  give  20c  a  month  on 
each  $1,000  worth  of  property,  but  reported  after  the  campaign 
that  this  figure  had  not  proved  wholly  satisfactory  in  operation. 
Coshocton,  Ohio,  called  upon  the  farmers  to  give  1%  of  their 
total  taxable  property.  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  stated  that 
"where  the  income  from  farm  land  cannot  be  distinctly  deter- 
mined the  contribution  shall  be  not  less  than  25c  per  acre.'* 
Houghton,  Mich.,  published  a  scale  on  the  basis  of  acreage  which 
read  as  follows: 

"Forty  acres  partially  cleared,  25c.;  forty  acres  cleared  and  culti- 
vated, 50c.;  forty  to  eighty  acres  partially  cleared,  50c.;  forty  to  eighty 
acres  almost  all  cleared  and  cultivated,  75c.;  eighty  acres  or  over  par- 
tially cleared  and  cultivated,  $1.00.  The  above  amounts-  are  the  mini- 
mum subscriptions  expected  and  pledges  for  more  than  $1.00  per  month 
will  be  welcomed." 

Newberry,  Mich.,  called  for  farmers  to  give  at  least  $5.00  a  year 
and  an  additional  amount  in  proportion  to  the  valuations  of 
clearings,  which  was  to  be  set  by  each  local  committee  for  its 
own  group.  Sheboygan  published  the  statement  that  "farmers 
are  to  contribute  on  the  basis  of  their  assessed  valuation  of  prop- 
erty and  other  sources  of  income,  after  making  due  allowance 
for  special  conditions  and  indebtedness,  at  a  rate  of  percentage 
to  be  determined  by  each  township." 

Inquiry  as  to  the  number  of  individuals  who  lived  up  to  the 
scale  in  making  their  subscriptions  shows  that  in  general — as 
would  be  expected — the  more  conservatively  drawn  scales 
brought  larger  percentages  of  those  who  gave  as  much  or  more 
than  the  scale  called  for  than  did  those  v/hich  were  more  radical 
in  their  drafting. 

There  is  one  objection  to  the  publication  of  a  schedule 
which  is  urged  in  many  cities,  namely,  that  it  has  a  tendency  if 
drawn  on  the  basis  of  calling  for  amounts  which  may  be  reason- 
ably expected  in  normal  cases  to  put  the  emphasis  on  the  min- 
imum in  each  group.  A  number  of  cities  have  warned  that 
carelessness  in  the  statement  with  regard  to  the  schedule  had 
led  people  whose  circumstances  were  such  that  they  were  able 
to  give  beyond  it  to  neglect  to  do  so.  On  the  other  hand,  cities 
which  were  more  careful  in  their  statements  indicate  that  this 
difficulty  can  be  avoided. 


The  general  conclusion  therefore  must  be  that  the  sliding 
scale  is  valuable  in  proportion  to  the  care  exercised  in  its  draft- 
ing, the  tact  with  which  it  is  presented,  and  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  combined  with  other  methods,  whether  memberships,  or 
ratings,  or  appeals  on  the  basis  of  time. 

Basis  of  Pledge. 

Closely  integrated  with  the  subject  of  suggested  amounts 
is  the  matter  of  the  basis  of  the  pledge. 

Many  cities,  as  indicated  in  the  previous  section,  publish 
sliding  scales.  Normally  this  is  done  only  as  a  suggestion. 
Occasionally,  however,  subscribers  are  asked  to  make  a  pledge 
that  they  are  giving  in  accordance  with  the  published  schedules, 
which  makes  them  not  merely  suggested  amounts  but  actual 
bases  for  pledges.  Where  this  has  been  carried  to  its  logical 
conclusion  it  has  reduced  the  matter  practically  to  becoming 
a  tax.     Fortunately  this  is  done  in  only  very  few  cities. 

Some  war  chests  ask  their  subscribers  to  make  their  pledges 
on  the  basis  of  time,  the  ordinary  time  being  one-half  hour  or 
one  hour  a  week.  Those  using  an  hour  are,  among  others, 
Akron,  Ohio,  Billings,  Mont.,  Cumberland,  Md.,  Lockport, 
N.  Y.,  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Among  those  using  one-half  hour  are 
Batavia,  111.,  Burlington,  Iowa,  Butte,  Mont.,  Elkhart,  Ind., 
Kenosha,  Wis.,  Michigan  City,  Ind.,  Newberry,  Racine,  Wis., 
Sycamore,  111.,  Tonawanda,  N.  Y.,  and  Youngstown,  0.  One 
community,  Newark,  N.  Y.,  uses  one  and  one-half  hours  as  the 
basis  of  its  giving.  These  of  course  are  readily  reduced  to 
percentages.  Roughly  speaking,  the  one-half  hour  represents 
1%,  an  hour  2%,  and  an  hour  and  a  half  3%.  Most 
of  the  cities  which  use  this  time  advertising  do  it  only  as  a 
suggestion  or  in  combination  with  other  plans.  But  a  few 
make  the  pledge  rest  upon  this  exclusively  and  in  such  cases  it  is 
no  longer  a  suggested  amount  but  the  real  basis  of  pledge. 

A  few  cities  have  used  the  time  slogan  expressed  in  terms 
of  days.  Columbus  originated  the  "one  to  thirty-one"  slogan, 
which  calls  upon  a  man  to  give  one  day's  pay  each  month.  That 
plan  has  been  followed  by  most  of  the  cities  which  make  their 
appeals  on  the  basis  of  days,  for  example,  by  Newark,  Ohio, 
Oil  City,  Pa.,  Philadelphia,  Sidney,  Ohio,  and  Springfield,  Vt. 
Ambridge,  Pa.,  used  the  idea  of  four  days  a  year,  one  day  a 
quarter,  i.  e.,  "one  to  ninety-one."  These,  like  the  hour  slogan, 
are  readily  translated  into  percentages;  one  to  thirty-one  being 
practically  4%  and  four  days  a  year  being  1%,  roughly.  Usual- 
ly these  are  simply  employed  as  methods  of  suggesting  amounts. 
Only  rarely  is  either  of  them  made  the  real  basis  for  the  pledge. 

Many  cities  make  the  basis  of  their  pledge  an  agreement 
to  join  a  membership  association.  These  memberships  are  nor- 
mally $1.00  a  month,  though  there  are  a  few  instances,  as  for 

77 


example  Montpelier,  Vt.,  and  Westbrook,  Me.,  where  the  mem- 
bership fee  is  50c.  a  month.  In  all  but  one  or  two  cases  the 
pledge  consists  in  an  agreement  to  take  out  a  certain  number 
of  memberships.  In  one  case  however  a  person  was  asked  to 
take  out  only  one  membership. 

Usually  when  an  individual  takes  out  a  number  of  mem- 
berships he  receives  only  one  vote  in  the  association,  regardless 
of  the  number  of  memberships  for  which  he  may  have  sub- 
scribed. Occasionally,  however,  every  individual  is  given  as 
many  votes  in  the  association  as  he  has  memberships. 

In  several  instances  the  membership  plan  is  the  sole  re- 
liance of  the  organization.  Ordinarily,  however,  where  this  is 
made  the  basis  of  the  pledge  some  other  means  of  suggesting 
the  amount  which  the  individual  ought  to  give  is  adopted,  either 
a  sliding  scale  showing  percentage  of  income,  or  an  amount  of 
time,  or  a  rating.  In  such  cases  as  these  latter  there  is  occa- 
sionally no  definite  membership  fee  but  all  subscribers  become 
members.  Illustrations  of  such  cases  are  Attleboro  and  Spring- 
field, Mass. 

Other  cities  have  adopted  other  names,  which  amount  prac- 
tically to  a  membership  basis  of  the  pledge.  Brattleboro,  Vt., 
calls  its  memberships  "enlistments'".  Ilion  and  Mohawk  speak 
of  ''shares".  These  all  amount  in  practice  to  the  membership 
plan. 

A  few  cities  had  special  memberships  for  children.  For 
this  Attleboro  worked  out  a  somewhat  elaborate  plan.  In 
Springfield,  Mass.,  the  idea  was  improvised  during  the  cam- 
paign. Some,  for  example  Sheboygan,  set  a  minimum  subscrip- 
tion for  children  from  six  to  twelve  years  of  50c.  a  year  and 
from  twelve  to  sixteen  years  of  $1.00  a  year.  The  Tarrytowns 
had  a  junior  membership  for  those  under  twenty-one  years  of 
age  of  $4.00,  no  other  amount  being  allowed,  either  more  or  less. 
Westbrook,  Maine,  had  a  children's  membership  of  50c.  One 
or  two  have  had  a  sliding  scale  by  which  those  in  the  higher 
grades  paid  more  than  those  in  the  lower. 

Many  cities  have  adopted  none  of  the  foregoing  bases  for 
their  pledges  but  simply  call  for  an  offering  without  relation 
to  memberships,  percentages,  or  any  other  fixed  plan.  They 
may  publish  appeals  of  various  sorts  with  amounts  suggested 
but  they  have  no  basis  on  which  the  pledge  is  taken. 

The  conclusions  which  have  been  reached  as  a  result  of 
the  study  of  the  material  which  has  come  in  on  this  subject  are, 
in  the  first  place,  that  the  straight  membership  plan  is  on  the 
whole  one  of  doubtful  value,  particularly  when  used  exclusively 
and  with  a  definite  amount,  although  it  ought  to  be  said  at  once 
that  Syracuse  succeeded  under  those  circumstances.  It  seems, 
however,  that  there  is  a  tendency  under  this  plan,  which  was 
revealed  even  in  Syracuse  the  first  year  and  which  has  been 

78 


evident  in  other  places,  to  over-emphasize  the  $1.00  subscrip- 
tion. It  is  not,  on  the  other  hand,  a  bad  plan  to  have  a  mem- 
bership association  on  the  plan  adopted  by  Attleboro  and  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  where  all  subscribers  became  members.  This 
opens  the  way  for  popular  control  for  which,  though  it  does 
not  yet  appear  to  have  been  needed  in  any  city,  it  is  wise  to 
provide.  Under  this  plan  all  members  should  have  equal  vot- 
ing privileges  irrespective  of  the  amount  subscribed. 

The  conclusions  with  regard  to  the  wisdom  of  publishing 
a  sliding  scale  as  a  suggestion  for  giving  have  been  set  forth  in 
detail  under  the  preceding  section.  It  may  be  said  that  such 
a  scale  has  not  the  same  value  as  the  basis  of  pledge.  Its  use 
in  that  manner  reduces  the  subscription  virtually  to  a  tax,  pre- 
cludes proper  variation  for  individual  circumstances,  and  for 
these  and  other  reasons  which  readily  suggest  themselves  is 
distinctly  unwise.  The  use  of  time  or  a  number  of  days  as  a 
suggestion  for  giving  has  the  advantage  of  being  a  simple  way 
of  expressing  percentages.  It  lends  itself  readily  to  advertis- 
ing and  publicity  generally.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
used  as  a  basis  of  pledge  it  opens  the  way  for  the  patriotic  half- 
hour  or  hour  of  special  exercises  in  the  schools  and  serves  as 
a  method  of  keeping  public  interest  alive.  It  makes  for  uni- 
formity in  everyone's  giving,  though  this  is  of  doubtful  value 
because  it  involves  the  abandonment  of  the  principle  of  grad- 
uated giving,  unless  the  half-hour  or  hour  or  day  slogan  is  used 
simply  for  the  wage  earners  and  careful  rating  or  a  sliding  scale 
is  used  for  those  with  incomes  above  those  of  the  wage  earning 
class.  This  plan  has,  moreover,  the  weakness  that  in  some  in- 
stances it  will  fail  to  allow  sufficiently  for  individual  circum- 
stances. Where  adopted,  therefore,  caution  must  be  exercised 
to  see  that  it  is  not  pushed  too  far.  In  one  Middle  Western  city 
this  caution  was  neglected  in  a  few  factories,  the  consequence 
being  that  some  subscribers  later  asked  the  war  chest  officers 
to  allow  them  to  reduce  the  amounts  of  their  subscriptions, 
requests  which  were  promptly  acceded  to.  The  use  of  this  plan 
also  develops  certain  problems  of  bookkeeping  and  collecting — 
for  example  how  to  figure  out  the  amount  of  money  made  in  a 
given  hour,  etc.,  which  is  dealt  with  under  the  heading,  "The 
Patriotic  Half  Hour." 

The  question  of  whether  or  not  a  minimum  amount  should 
be  set  has  been  very  much  debated.  Those  in  control  of  the 
war  chest  in  Syracuse  feel  very  strongly  that  whoever  cannot 
afford  to  give  $1.00  a  month  ought  not  to  be  asked  to  give  at  all, 
though  they  may  be  permitted  to  do  so.  Some  cities  will  not 
even  permit  a  gift  of  less  than  $12.00  a  year.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  matter  of  a  minimum  was  very  thoroughly  thrashed 
out  in  Rochester  and  the  conclusion  was  reached  that  in  many 
cases,  particularly  those  of  girls  employed  in  department  stores, 
telephone  exchanges,  etc.,  who  are  already  buying  Liberty  Bonds 


and  War  Savings  Stamps,  it  is  unfair  to  ask  them  to  give  $1.00 
a  month  or  in  some  cases  even  50c.  a  month.  Yet  the  commit- 
tee did  not  want  to  deprive  them  of  participation  in  the  great 
community  enterprise  and,  in  consequence  they  set  no  minimum. 
It  seems  to  be  a  reasonable  conclusion  that  collection  at  the 
source,  which  renders  delinquency  practically  impossible  and 
which  also  simplifies  bookkeeping,  makes  it  less  necessary  for 
the  enforcement  of  a  minimum  among  the  wage  group.  For 
the  general  public  it  is  perhaps  wise  to  have  a  published  mini- 
mum but  to  accept  gifts  for  less  amounts  from  those  who  can- 
not afford  to  give  that  much  and  to  accept  no  other  gifts,  every- 
one giving  as  much  as  the  published  minimum  being  required  to 
make  out  his  subscription  card.  Those  who  give  less  than 
$12.00  should  have  neither  button  nor  window  card  nor  be  en- 
rolled as  memxbers.  This  plan  avoids  encouragement  of  too 
small  giving,  yet  does  not  exclude  those  of  slender  means  from 
participation. 

Form  of  Contribution. 

Broadly  speaking,  there  are  just  two  forms  of  contribution 
to  the  war  chest.  The  first  is  an  outright  gift  and  the  second 
a  subscription.  A  number  of  places  have  forbidden  the  accept- 
ance of  gifts  under  the  operation  of  the  slogan  "stand  up  and 
be  counted."  Some  cities  have  gone  so  far  as  to  return  anony- 
mous gifts  because  they  believe  if  people  are  allowed  to  dis- 
charge their  obligations  without  putting  themselves  on  record, 
the  result  would  be  that  many  would  fail  to  do  all  they  should. 
This  practice  was  followed  by  Albany,  Cleveland,  Rochester, 
Springfield,  0.,  and  few  other  places  that  reported.  In  general, 
however,  cities  have  allowed  gifts  to  be  mxade,  though  a  few 
of  them  reported  that  they  did  not  regard  it  as  desirable  and 
regretted  having  done  so.  One  city  allowed  gifts  from  those 
who  were  not  regular  residents.  Others  ''threw  the  town  open" 
in  the  last  day  or  two  of  the  drive  and  accepted  gifts.  Cleve- 
land was  an  instance  of  that.  Easton,  Pa.,  took  up  general 
collections  at  the  big  war  chest  set  up  in  the  square.  One  day 
the  big  chest  was  put  on  a  truck  and  sent  around  the  city  and 
towards  the  latter  part  of  the  campaign  girls  with  miniature 
war  chests  stood  on  the  streets  to  accept  gifts.  Other  cities 
allowed  gifts  from  clubs  and  lodges.  This  is  a  plan  of  extremely 
doubtful  value  because  it  gives  individuals  an  opportunity  to 
say  they  have  subscribed  through  their  club,  though  they  may 
have  done  very  little.  In  other  cases  it  makes  men  subscribe 
twice.  It  is  not  improper  to  use  clubs,  etc.,  as  collection  agen- 
cies but  all  subscriptions  should  be  individual  subcriptions,  save 
in  the  cases  of  corporations  or  businesses.  Two  or  three  cities, 
notably  Syracuse  and  Dundee,  allowed  gifts  only  from  those  who 
could  not  afford  one  dollar  a  month.  They  did  not  want  to 
deprive  such  people  of  a  part  in  the  community  effort  and  while 

80 


such  givers  were  not  enrolled  as  members  of  the  association 
and  were  not  given  a  pin  or  window  card,  the  gift  was  neverthe- 
less gratefully  accepted. 

Occasionally  there  is  a  person  who  wishes  to  make  a  really 
sacrificial  gift  but  who  does  not  wish  to  sign  a  subscription 
paper  or  have  the  matter  known.  The  number  of  legitimate 
cases  of  this  sort  in  any  town  is  usually  very  small.  Neverthe- 
less a  few  cities  took  pains  to  meet  the  desires  of  such  by  allow- 
ing them  to  put  the  pledge  card,  when  filled  out,  in  an  envelope 
marked  ''confidential",  which  was  not  to  be  opened  by  the  solici- 
tor nor  was  the  name  to  be  published,  though  the  amount  had 
to  be  known  to  the  executive  committee  and  might  come  under 
the  hand  of  the  revision  committee  who,  in  turn,  might  take  up 
the  matter  with  the  subscriber.  Another  city,  Racine,  did  not 
take  quite  such  elaborate  means  but  had  a  space  on  the  pledge 
card  where  a  person  who  objected  to  having  his  name  put  in  the 
paper  might  put  a  cross  to  indicate  his  desire. 

A  study  of  the  evidence  convinces  one  that  the  emphasis 
should  be  put  on  subscription  and  not  on  gifts.  This  does  not 
prevent  one  from  making  his  entire  payment  at  once  but  it  does 
mean  that  it  should  be  possible  for  the  executive  committee,  at 
all  events,  to  know  the  names  of  contributors  and  the  amounts. 
To  that  end  it  is  advisable  to  prohibit  gifts  save  in  such  in- 
stances where  a  person  is  not  able  to  give  the  minimum  amount, 
if  one  is  set.  In  such  cases  a  gift  should  not  be  solicited  but 
should  be  permitted. 

A  large  number  of  cities  take  weekly  subscriptions  and  a 
few  limit  all  subscribers  to  the  weekly  plan.  On  the  whole, 
this  seems  undesirable  because  it  involves  a  great  deal  of  book- 
keeping and  considerable  nuisance  to  individuals  who  make 
payments  with  a  consequent  tendency  to  delinquency. 

Practically  all  war  chests  provide  for  subscriptions  on  a 
monthly  basis  and  a  considerable  number  do  not  allow  any  other 
form.  The  reasons  advanced  for  the  use  of  monthly  payments 
exclusively  are,  first,  that  in  every  case  a  man  will  be  able  to 
give  more  if  his  payments  are  distributed  throughout  the  year 
than  if  he  makes  but  a  single  payment  or  two  or  four  payments. 
This  argument  is  unsound  since  persons  who  derive  their  in- 
comes from  investment  frequently  find  themselves  better  able 
to  pay  quarterly,  semi-annually  or  even  annually.  The  second 
reason  for  employing  monthly  pledges  exclusively  is  that  in  case 
more  money  is  raised  by  the  war  chest  than  necessary,  the 
executive  committee  may  suspend  payment  in  any  given  month 
until  demand  catches  up  to  supply  and  in  order  to  have  this 
operate  fairly  in  every  case  there  must  be  a  single  uniform 
method  of  subscription. 

To  some  extent  it  may  be  argued  that  the  same  is  true  if 
a  war  chest  finds  its  resources  inadequate  and  is  compelled  to 
make  a  new  campaign  within  a  year.       It  seems  sufficiently 

•       81 


clear,  however,  that  those  who  adopt  annual,  or  semi-annual,  or 
quarterly  payments  are  those  best  able  to  give  and  that,  con- 
sequently, no  very  severe  injustice  will  be  wrought.  There  is 
therefore  no  adequate  reason  why  subscriptions  should  be  taken 
exclusively  on  a  monthly  basis,  especially  since  the  Crawfords- 
ville  plan  of  omitting  a  payment  has  not  been  extensively  follow- 
ed and  is  not  likely  to  be,  particularly  when  the  duration  of  the 
pledge  is  but  a  single  year.  It  should  be  noted  that  this  report 
recommends  that  over-subscriptions  be  made  in  case  there  is  a 
surplus  which  practically  destroys  the  basis  for  this  practice. 

Very  few^  war  chests  have  laid  any  emphasis  on  semi-an- 
nual payments  but  several  have  put  a  very  large  amount  of 
stress  on  annual  payments.  Usually  in  this  latter  case  the 
subscriptions  have  been  taken  on  some  other  basis  and  then  a 
campaign  staged,  after  the  subscription  lists  have  been  com- 
pleted, to  encourage  all  those  who  can  to  pay  up  the  entire  face 
of  their  subscriptions  at  once,  both  to  simplify  bookkeeping  and 
to  prevent  any  possibility  of  delinquency.  Various  odd  periods 
of  payment  have  been  adopted,  such  as  ten  equal  payments  or 
two  installments,  but  not  semi-annual,  or  four  installments, 
but  not  quarterly.     These  are  simply  sporadic  instances. 

Broadly  speaking,  it  seems  that  when  the  emphasis  is  put 
on  subscription  as  against  gift,  a  great  deal  of  latitude  should 
be  allowed  between  monthly,  quarterly,  semi-annual,  and  annual 
payments.  The  more  payments  are  broken  up  in  this  way,  the 
simpler  the  bookkeeping  will  be  because  the  number  of  trans- 
actions will  be  materially  reduced. 

Pledge  Forms. 

There  is  no  uniform  or  standard  pledge.  While  one  may, 
by  careful  sorting,  discover  certain  families  among  the  pledge 
cards  each  running  back  to  some  common  ancestor  among  the 
earlier  war  chests,  individuals  within  these  families  show  mark- 
ed differences  in  fomi  and  spirit.  Pledges  may  roughly  be 
grouped  into  three  categories;  first,  those  which  constitute  a 
binding  legal  obligation,  second,  a  simple  subscription,  and 
third,  those  of  an  enlistment  type. 

It  develops  that  the  legal  form  of  pledge  has  been  used  in 
only  a  small  percentage  of  cities,  among  them,  however,  Cleve- 
land, Dayton,  Indianapolis,  Philadelphia,  and  others  almost  as 
well  known.  This  form  has  certain  advantages.  It  has  the 
advantage  of  making  the  subscriber  understand  at  the  outset 
that  he  is  undertaking  a  real  obligation ;  it  has  the  advantage  at 
the  other  end  of  calling  to  the  mind  of  any  who  may  have  signed 
subscriptions  in  bad  faith  that  they  are  not  entirely  free  to  re- 
pudiate their  pledges. 

Some  of  these  pledges  of  legal  form  can  be  collected  from 
a  man's  estate  in  case  he  should  die  before  the  expiration  of  the 

82       • 


period  mentioned  on  the  face  of  the  pledge.  Others  of  them, 
however,  make  a  definite  statement  that  they  shall  be  cancelled 
in  case  of  the  death  and  occasionally,  also,  the  removal  of  the 
subscriber. 

Turning  to  the  second  general  form,  namely,  a  straight 
subscription,  it  may  be  said  that  a  sm.aller  percentage  use  this 
than  would  normally  be  expected,  perhaps,  because  committees 
have  been  eager,  even  in  the  matter  of  pledge  forms,  to  empha- 
size the  patriotic  character  of  the  war  chest. 

A  good  many  of  this  type  carry  the  privilege  of  cancellation 
as  do  one  or  two  of  those  of  legal  form  and  some  of  the  enlist- 
ment type.  This  practice  of  allowing  an  individual  to  sign  a 
card  which  specifically  reserves  the  privilege  of  cancelling  his 
pledge,  emphasizes  the  voluntary  nature  of  the  subscription  and 
destroys  any  shadow  of  serious  pressure  in  most  cases.  Pledge 
cards  which  provide  for  cancellation  are,  among  others,  Attle- 
boro,  Lexington,  Melrose,  and  Northampton,  Mass.,  Kenosha 
and  Racine,  Wis. 

The  third  form,  the  enlistment  type,  frequently  reads  some- 
thing as  follows:  '*I  hereby  pledge  my  patriotism  and  service 
to  the  cause  of  my  country  and  my  moral  support  to  the  ob- 
jects and  aims  of  the  war  chest."  This  type  is  distinctly  the 
most  popular  and  shows  the  greatest  similarity  among  the  va- 
rious forms  in  which  it  appears. 

There  is  as  much  variation  in  detail  as  there  is  in  the  gen- 
eral form  of  pledge  cards.  It  appears  that  perhaps  one  half 
contain  an  authorization  to  the  executive  committee  or  other 
body  to  expend  the  amount  subscribed  as  their  judgment  may 
dictate.  The  wording  is  varied  somewhat  in  different  cities 
but  normally  runs  about  as  follows:  *T  hereby  authorize  the 
executive  committee  of  the  war  chest  to  expend  my  subscrip- 
tion for  such  war  needs  as  to  them  seems  best."  If  proper  by- 
laws have  been  drawn  up  in  advance,  any  such  authorization  is 
unnecessary,  particularly  if  the  war  chest  is  organized  as  a 
membership  association,  but  it  is  by  no  means  unwise  to  include 
it. 

The  pledge  card  always  ought  to  carry  conspicuously  on  its 
face  the  varieties  of  payment  which  are  possible  for  the  indi- 
vidual. Perhaps  a  majority  provide  such  an  option.  Occasion- 
ally it  is  done  by  having  a  separate  pledge  form  for  each  man- 
ner of  payment.  Frequently  it  is  done  simply  by  leaving  a 
blank,  a  plan  which  is  not  v/holly  to  be  commended  inasmuch 
as  the  purpose  of  the  blank  is  not  always  obvious  to  many  sub- 
scribers and  many  more  are  careless  in  filling  in  blanks.  Some 
cards  have  the  various  possibilities — annually,  semi-annually, 
quarterly,  and  monthly — printed  along  in  a  straight  line  in  or- 
dinary type,  and  request  the  subscriber  to  cross  out  those  which 
are  not  needed.  This  has  the  disadvantage  of  not  being  suf- 
ficiently conspicuous;  subscribers  too  frequently  neglect  to  do 

83 


as  asked.  Probably  the  best  method,  one  used  in  a  large  num- 
ber of  cities,  is  to  print  this  option  separately  in  a  conspicuous 
position  where  one  can  checkmark  one  of  the  four  possibilities. 

One  or  two  allow  only  weekly  payments,  a  number  only 
monthly,  one  or  two  only  quarterly,  and  one  semi-annually.  As 
pointed  out  elsewhere,  the  best  plan  is  to  allow  an  option  among 
annual,  semi-annual,  quarterly,  and  monthly  payments  but  to 
exclude  weekly  payments. 

A  large  majority  of  the  cities  provide  on  the  face  of  one 
or  other  of  their  pledge  forms  an  authorization  to  the  employer 
to  deduct  the  amount  of  the  pledge  from  the  employee's  pay 
envelope.  Two  or  three  cities  have  adopted  the  plan  of  having 
separate  coupon  for  this  authorization  attached  to  the  regular 
pledge  card.  This  was  done  in  Amsterdam  and  Utica.  In  the 
latter  city  some  of  those  in  charge  believed  it  would  be  wise  in 
adopting  this  plan  to  use  good  stock  and  rule  the  back  of  the 
authorization  coupon  so  that  it  could  be  used  as  a  record  card 
to  be  kept  by  the  factory.  This  idea  is  one  of  considerable 
merit  because,  in  the  first  place,  it  allows  the  war  chest  head- 
quarters to  keep  the  original  pledge  card  in  its  own  file  and 
at  the  same  time  leave  to  the  factory  a  proper  card  on  which 
it  may  record  the  deductions  so  that  in  case  a  man  leaves  their 
employ  and  the  factory  record  is  sent  to  the  war  chest  office 
as  part  of  the  labor  turnover  program,  all  such  cards  will  be 
uniform.  In  the  second  place  it  is  conspicuously  fair  because 
it  requires  separate  signature  on  the  part  of  the  workman  and 
there  is  no  chance  that  he  will  overlook  the  authorization  in  the 
considerable  body  of  printing  on  the  regular  pledge  card. 

Some  of  the  pledge  cards  specify  how  often  the  deduction  is 
to  be  made.  Most  of  them  state  that  it  is  to  be  made  weekly, 
a  few  monthly,  and  some  give  an  option.  The  matter  of  proper 
practice  in  this  regard  is  dealt  with  elsewhere  but  in  general 
it  may  be  said  that  if  the  deduction  is  to  be  made  each  pay  day 
and  the  money  sent  to  the  war  chest  but  once  a  month,  careful 
statement  is  requisite  because  of  the  fact  that  in  some  months 
there  are  more  than  four  pay  days  and  it  is  not  wise  to  ask 
the  factories  to  deduct  one  fifth  each  week  in  those  months. 
The  statement  needs  therefore  to  be  sufficiently  explicit  so  the 
w^orkman  will  not  be  led  to  think  there  will  be  a  deduction  fifty 
two  weeks  in  the  year  instead  of  forty  eight  and  so  that  the 
paymaster,  on  the  other  hand,  will  not  be  left  in  doubt  whether 
he  must  take  out  one  fifth  of  the  monthly  pledge  each  pay  day 
in  those  months  or  simply  one  quarter  on  four  of  the  pay  days 
and  nothing  on  the  fifth.  The  pledge  therefore  should  be  on 
the  monthly  basis,  the  deduction  made  each  pay  day,  save  when 
there  are  five  in  the  month,  in  which  case  there  should  be  four 
deductions. 

Certain  of  the  pledge  forms  provide  for  collection  by  labor 
unions.     The  form  for  this  requires  no  comment  as  the  practice 

84 


of  making  use  of  unions  as  collection  agencies  is  dealt  with  in 
another  place. 

A  number  of  cities  have  printed  on  their  pledge  forms  a 
percentage  or  period  of  time  as  the  basis  of  contribution.  For 
reasons  set  forth  in  other  places  in  this  report,  that  practice 
is  not  desirable.  Its  operation  has  been  somewhat  limited  but 
it  is  fair  to  say  that  some  successfully  conducted  war  chests 
have  used  it. 

A  relatively  small  number  of  war  chests  offer  on  the  pledge 
form  an  option  between  subscribing  for  the  period  of  the  war 
or  for  one  year.  In  view  of  the  discussion  elsewhere  in  this 
report  to  the  effect  that  taking  pledges  for  the  duration  of  the 
war  is  unwise,  this  needs  no  further  comment. 

Occasionally  the  matter  of  Red  Cross  membership  is  in- 
corporated on  the  pledge  card.  In  one  or  two  instances  the 
statement  is  made  that  the  first  dollar  paid  is  to  take  care  of 
the  membership;  in  another  case  the  statement  is  made  that 
membership  shall  follow  after  the  third  dollar  is  paid.  In  one 
instance  for  every  two  dollars  paid  an  individual  may  designate 
membership  for  someone,  presumably  a  member  of  his  family. 
In  view  of  what  is  said  elsewhere,  it  seems  wise  to  leave  any 
reference  to  this  off  the  pledge  card. 

A  very  considerable  number  of  cities  have  ruled  the  backs 
of  the  pledge  cards  in  order  to  use  them  as  ledger  cards.  The 
objections  to  this  plan  are  set  forth  elsewhere  and  need  not  be 
reviewed  here.  Still  other  cities  have  used  the  backs  of  pledge 
cards  as  prospect  cards,  a  plan  which  is  not  advisable  since  they 
may  carry  confidential  information  which  it  is  not  always  de- 
sirable that  the  prospect  should  see,  and  because  they  may  need 
to  be  used  again  in  other  connections  where  it  would  be  distinct- 
ly undesirable  to  pass  out  pledge  cards  lest  they  be  lost  or  rum- 
pled. On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  seems  better  to  have  a  pros- 
pect card  separate  from  the  pledge  form. 

A  few  cities  have  numbered  their  subscription  cards  from 
various  motives,  one  using  an  attached  coupon  with  identical 
number  as  a  receipt  for  money  collected,  others  plan  to  use  them 
for  ledger  cards.  The  use  of  numbered  cards,  however,  par- 
ticularly in  cities  of  considerable  size,  involves  a  great  many 
difficulties  and  is  not  worth  the  effort  involved.  It  may  be- 
come desirable  to  number  them  for  various  purposes  after  the 
subscription  has  been  taken,  but  there  appears  to  be  no  good 
reason  for  sending  them  out  numbered. 

Many  cities  provide  for  making  a  carbon  copy  of  the  pledge, 
either  in  order  that  one  may  be  kept  by  the  subscriber  as  a 
memorandum,  or  in  order  that  one  may  be  deposited  with  the 
bank  or  factory  through  which  collections  are  to  be  made;  the 
other  copy  in  every  case  goes  to  the  war  chest  office. 

Detroit,  instead  of  having  a  separate  pledge  card  for  each 
employee  within  a  factory,  had  simply  a  sheet  with  an  appro- 

85 


priate  pledge  form  at  the  top,  authorizing  the  employer  to 
deduct  the  face  of  the  pledge.  Below  there  was  space  for 
names  and  addresses.  This  plan  made  it  possible  for  employ- 
ees to  see  what  their  fellov/s  had  done  and  readily  centered 
attention  upon  any  who  refused  to  subscribe  or  subscribed  in 
meagre  amounts.  In  a  city,  however,  which  does  not  intend 
to  use  the  Detroit  underwriting  plan,  there  are  serious  disad- 
vantages in  this  method,  and  its  only  value  in  such  cases  comes 
from  its  usefulness  for  purposes  of  exerting  moral  pressure  in 
the  direction  of  subscribing  and  subscribing  adequately. 

Some  pledge  forms  are  so  unique  that  they  call  for  separate 
mention.  Deer  Lodge  County  war  chest  fund,  with  headquar- 
ters at  Anaconda,  Montana,  had  a  card  providing  space  at  top 
for  name,  address,  telephone  number,  factory  number,  occupa- 
tion, place  of  business,  whether  married  or  single,  and  number 
of  dependents.  Beneath  was  a  pledge  form  with  four  options — • 
the  amount  to  be  deducted  by  employer,  agreement  to  pay  at  the 
war  chest  headquarters,  authorization  to  a  bank  to  make  pay- 
ment, agreement  to  pay  through  a  union.  The  space  for  signa- 
ture was  below  and  then  blanks  for  recording  Liberty  bond  pur- 
chases up  to  the  twentieth  issue,  also  for  war  saving  stamps, 
and  a  space  for  remarks.  At  the  bottom  of  the  card  there  was 
recorded  the  division,  district  supervisor,  the  captain,  and  the 
lieutenant  who  took  the  pledge.  The  back  of  the  card  was  a 
ledger  form. 

Boyd  County,  with  headquarters  at  Ashland,  Ky.,  had  a 
pledge  in  the  shape  of  a  booklet,  the  front  cover  of  which  carried 
a  pledge  form  with  date,  residence  and  business  'phones,  resi- 
dence and  business  addresses,  witness,  and  number.  The  back 
page  had  authorization  to  the  employer  to  substitute  a  coupon 
each  month  for  that  part  of  his  pay  which  the  individual  had 
subscribed,  and  an  authorization  to  a  bank  to  honor  one  of  the 
coupons  each  month.  The  inside  of  the  booklet  was  a  sheet 
of  coupons  on  which  the  amount  of  the  payment  and  the  number 
could  be  stamped.  This  could  be  left  with  the  employer  to  put 
in  pay  envelopes  as  a  substitute  for  part  of  the  subscriber's 
wages,  or  could  be  left  with  the  bank  to  enclose  with  his  state- 
ment, or  could  be  taken  by  the  subscriber  who  paid  direct  to 
the  war  chest  office. 

Nutley,  N.  J.,  conducted  a  mail  solicitation  and  the  pledge 
form  was  on  a  postcard  which  carried  the  subscriber's  name, 
address  and  a  list  of  amounts,  around  one  of  which  the  sub- 
scriber might  draw  a  circle  to  indicate  the  amount  of  his  sub- 
scription. 

A  great  many  had  separate  forms  for  individual  subscrib- 
ers, employees,  bank  pledge  cards,  union  cards,  percentage 
cards,  etc.,  some  cities  having  as  many  as  six  or  seven  forms, 
becoming  very  complex  indeed.     Generally  speaking,  both  from 

86 


the  point  of  view  of  handling  supplies  and  from  the  points  of 
view  of  economy  and  public  understanding,  it  is  better  to  have 
as  few  forms  as  possible. 

A  few  cities  had  a  special  form  known  as  the  employer's 
equal  giving  card.  That  used  by  Attleboro  read:  "Beginning 
June  1,  1918  we  hereby  agree  to  deposit  weekly  with  the  Attle- 
boro war  chest  all  money  deducted  by  us  from  our  employees 
wages  on  account  of  war  chest  pledges,  together  with  an  equal 
amount  as  this  company's  contribution  to  the  fund.  We  will 
endeavor  to  secure  a  pledge  from  each  person  in  our  employ 
now  and  those  we  may  employ  for  the  duration  of  this  agree- 
ment, furnishing  the  war  chest  office  with  a  list  of  the  names 
and  total  amount  paid  weekly."  As  pointed  out  elsewhere, 
this  pledge  has  the  weakness  of  making  the  employer's  pay- 
ments vary,  a  practice  which  does  not  facilitate  clear  or  simple 
bookkeeping.  One  or  two  cities,  notably  Burlington,  Iowa,  in- 
corporated in  their  pledge  form,  which  was  presented  to  em- 
ployees, a  statement  that  the  subscription  was  conditional  on 
the  subscription  by  the  employer  of  an  amount  equal  to  the 
total  subscripion  of  all  his  employees. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  had  the  employer  retain  the  pledge 
cards  of  his  employees  and  send  to  the  war  chest  a  letter  of 
advice  giving  a  list  of  the  contributors  and  amounts.  This 
letter  of  advice  was  made  in  duplicate  and  contained  an  agree- 
ment ''to  use  our  best  efforts  to  collect  these  pledges  and  remit 
monthly  to  the  treasurer"  with  the  understanding,  however, 
that  "liability  is  limited  to  the  safe  transmission  of  the  funds 
collected  by  us  and  that  no  responsibility  for  the  payment  of 
the  pledges  is  assumed  by  us."  The  actual  pledge  card  was  sent 
to  the  war  chest  office  only  when  the  employee  left  his  service. 

Three  or  four  cities,  notably  Mitchell,  South  Dakota,  and 
Racine,  Wisconsin,  incorporated  in  the  pledge  form  an  affirma- 
tion either  that  the  pledge  was  not  less  than  the  individuaFs 
fair  share  or  that  the  subscription  amounted  at  least  to  a  cer- 
tain percentage  of  income. 

There  are  just  two  or  three  things  that  experience  has 
indicated  ought  to  be  carefully  avoided  in  making  up  pledge 
cards  and  which,  though  in  themselves  trivial,  may  cause  a  good 
deal  of  trouble.  In  the  first  place,  do  not  use  blue  pledge  cards 
because  of  the  difficulty  of  reading  them.  One  city  which  used 
that  color  reported  many  dollars  lost  as  a  result  of  wasted  time. 
In  the  second  place  many  pledge  cards  fail  to  make  absolutely 
clear  whether  the  amount  which  the  subscriber  enters  is  the 
amount  of  a  monthly  payment  or  the  total  amount  of  the  pledge ; 
for  example,  one  pledge  card  read  as  follows — "I  agree  to  pay 

monthly  for  one  year  to  the  treasurer  the  sum  of dollars. 

I  agree  to  make  my  payments  monthly,  quarterly,  semi-annually." 
Many  subscribers  put  the  monthly  amount  in  the  blank,  many 
others  put  the  yearly  amount  in  the  blank,  the  result  being  that 

87 


it  was  impossible  to  tell  what  any  individual  subscriber  actually- 
intended.  In  every  case  the  pledge  card  should  state  distinctly 
the  total  amount  of  the  pledge  and  the  method  of  payment.  It 
is  not  necessary  that  it  should  state  the  amount  to  be  paid  at 
each  installment.  Some  cities  have  urged  that  more  will  be 
subscribed  if  the  total  does  not  appear.  If  that  augument  ap- 
pears sound,  communities  ought  to  provide  a  separate  card  for 
each  manner  of  payment — whether  monthly,  quarterly  or  semi- 
annual— otherwise  many  will  agree  to  pay  five  dollars  but 
despite  everything  will  neglect  to  state  whether  it  is  five  dollars 
annually,  quarterly  or  monthly.  In  the  third  place  it  is  very 
wise  indeed  to  have  the  solicitor  re-write  the  name  of  the  sub- 
scriber, though  he  may  not  write  any  better  than  the  sub- 
scriber the  chances  of  reading  a  name  which  is  almost  illegible 
are  better  if  you  have  two  copies  from  which  to  guess. 

A  suggested  pledge  form  follows : 


Name    . Clock    No _. 

Employer  _ Installment    $.. 

Total  Payable  $ 'Phone  

Address    ...» Method   _ 


(Do  not  write  above  this  line.) 

As  evidence  of  my  interest  in  the  work  of  the  war  auxiliary  agencies, 
and  in  consideration  of  the  gifts  of  others,  I  agree  to  pay  the  total  sum  of 

_ dollars  to  the  Treasurer,  within  the  period  of  one  year  in 

^qual  installments,  payable 

annually  (  ) 

semi-annually  (  )     (Mark  X  the  manner  of  payment 

quarterly  (  )  you  prefer.) 

monthly  (  ) 

I  hereby  authorize  the  Executive  Committee  to  expend  my  subscription 
in  accordance  with  the  by-laws  of  the  War  Chest  Association. 


Signature  _ 

Residence  'Phone „ - Home    address 

Obtained   by _ Firm  name  of  Employer 

Team   No - _ Employer's   business   address. 

Clock    No 


(Solicitor  must  print  subscriber's  name  on  above  line.) 
88 


COUPON  1. 

I  hereby  authorize  and  request  my  employer  to  deduct  equal  install- 
ments of  the  above  pledge  four  times  each  month  until  the  full  amount  has 
been  paid. 

Name    _ _ „ 

(To  be  retained  by  employer.)       Address    ..- 

Clock    No 

(Reverse  side  to  carry  ruled  ledger  form  with  48  spaces.) 


COUPON  2. 

I  hereby  authorize  the Bank  to  honor  official  receipts 

for  a  total  of.. _ - ,  payable  each  month  in  equal  installments. 

Name    .._ _ _ 

(To  be  retained  by  bank.)  Address 

'Phone  - - 

(Reverse  side  to  carry  ruled  spaces  for  bank  to  check  12  payments. 


COUPON  3  (County  form) 

I  agree  to  pay  the  above  pledges  promptly  on  the  first  of  each  month 

at 

Name    _ 

Addre  s  s    _ _ „ 

'Phone _ 


Designated  Gifts. 

One  of  the  most  frequently  used  arguments  against  the 
war  chest  has  been  that  persons  have  interests  in  individual  or- 
ganizations and  that  in  consequence  they  will  not  heartily  sup- 
port a  war  chest.  The  executive  manager  of  the  Massachusetts 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  argued  as  follows : 

"Tom  Jones  may  well  wish  to  invest  every  dollar  he  can  afford  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  while  Charles  Smith  is  equally  anxious 
that  every  bit  of  his  savings  go  to  forward  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross, 
Knights  of  Columbus,  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Association,  or  kin- 
dred organizations.  It  is  human  nature  for  a  man  or  woman  to  wish 
to  have  something  to  say  about  where  his  money  goes  and  just  what 
it  is  to  be  used  for  when  he  contributes  it,  *  *  *  Therefore,  if  my 
supposition  is  correct,  people  would  contribute  very  much  less  through 
the  war  chest  than  they  would  directly." 

Mr.  L.  Wilbur  Messer  of  the  Chicago  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  stated  that 
under  the  war  chest  plan  a  man  could  not  order  his  money 


''used  for  a  special  cause  in  which  he  is  particularly  interested. 
He  will  merely  contribute  to  a  nebulous  blanket  of  so-called 
'good  causes'." 

The  argument  is  really  that  the  war  chest  has  neglected 
to  understand  the  sentimental  side  of  the  matter  of  giving,  that 
the  war  chest  movement  overlooks  the  fact  that  the  various 
agencies  have  each  their  own  constituencies,  that  there  are  some 
people  whose  main  interest  is  in  the  Red  Cross,  others  who  as 
Catholics  prefer  to  give  their  all  to  the  Knights  of  Columbus, 
etc. 

So  far  as  can  be  ascertained  this  argument  has  never  pre- 
tended to  rest  upon  concrete  experience  but  has  always  been 
based  upon  a  chain  of  reasoning  from  analogy,  from  psychology, 
at  all  events  never  on  anything  save  a  theoretical  foundation. 
In  the  course  of  the  investigation  which  is  the  basis  of  this 
report  a  bona  fide  endeavor  was  made  to  gather  the  experience 
of  cities  in  this  matter. 

The  results  of  that  effort  have  been  to  demonstrate  in  the 
first  place  that  the  indictment  was  drawn  with  too  sweeping 
a  hand.  It  is  by  no  means  true  that  all  cities  prohibited  the 
designation  of  gifts.  Many  cities  recognized  this  factor  and 
made  provision  for  it.  Detroit  was  particularly  explicit.  Its 
publicity  contained  the  following  statement :  "Subscribers  may 
designate  the  war  or  local  organization  to  be  benefited  by  their 
contributions  and  the  proportion  each  is  to  receive."  And  in 
its  "question  and  answer"  publicity  there  appeared  the  follow- 
ing: "Can  the  giver  designate  the  organizations  to  which  he 
wishes  to  give?  Yes."  Cairo,  Illinois,  instructed  those  who 
had  objections  to  contributing  money  to  any  one  or  more  organ- 
izations included  in  the  list  to  make  their  wishes  known  to  the 
board  of  control.  Lexington,  Mass.,  instructed  its  solicitors  to 
the  effect  that,  while  monthly  pledges  were  preferred  without 
restrictions,  if  a  member  of  the  war  chest  association  desired 
to  give  to  a  special  object  he  might  write  it  on  the  pledge. 
Northampton,  Mass.,  in  its  publicity  instructions  said  subscrib- 
ers "can  designate  one  or  more  objects  where  their  contribu- 
tions are  to  be  used."  Other  cities  while  not  so  explicit  in 
advertising  the  matter,  leaving  the  initiative  in  the  matter  of 
designating  a  gift  with  the  interested  individual,  did  permit  it 
without  objection.  Still  others,  though  they  advised  against  it, 
permitted  it.  For  example,  Nutley,  N.  J.,  had  a  line  on  the 
pledge  card  marked  "special",  to  be  used  by  the  subscriber  "for 
limitations  to  be  put  on  the  use  of  the  subscriber's  money — such 
as  'for  Red  Cross  only',  'for  Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  K.  of  C.  only,'  or 
such  limitations  as  *not  to  be  used  for  Y.  W.  C.  A.,'  'not  to  be 
used  for  Red  Cross  or  Boy  Scouts,  etc'  Do  not  accept  such 
limitations  on  subscriptions  if  you  can  avoid  it.  This  provision 
is  only  made  to  be  used  in  the  event  that  a  subscriber  will  not 

90 


make  a  regular  unlimited  subscription."  These  serve  as  fairly 
typical  examples  of  the  different  practices  which  have  been 
adopted  in  cities  which  permitted  the  designation  of  gifts. 

Rather  than  make  any  general  statement  about  this  mat- 
ter it  is  deemed  best  to  repeat  at  his  point  exactly  what  each 
city  reported  on  the  subject  in  response  to  the  question  whether 
designated  gifts  were  permitted,  and,  if  so,  what  was  their 
number  and  their  value.  Ambridge,  Pa.,  replied  "not  many"; 
Ashland,  Ky.,  'Very  few — too  small  to  notice" ;  Attleboro,  Mass., 
"7900  pledges — three  (one  a  national  bank)  designated,  amount- 
ing to  $1800  cut  of  a  total  of  $140,000." ;  Billings,  Mont.,  $5,000 
designated  by  ten  or  twelve  subscribers  out  of  a  war  chest 
amounting  to  $150,000;  Burlington,  Iowa,  $100  designated; 
Butte,  Mont.,  "less  than  five  per. cent.";  Cairo,  111.,  "none"; 
Dayton,  0.,  "number  small,  amount  insignificant" ;  Detroit 
"certainly  not  over  $100,000  in  a  war  chest  of  $10,500,000."; 
Granville,  N.  Y.,  "three  gifts,  $125.00  monthly";  Janesville, 
Wis.,  "small  per  cent." ;  Lexington,  Mass..  "about  ten,  value  less 
than  $500  out  of  a  total  of  $63,000";  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  "very 
few" ;  Meriden  "It  will  not  amount  to  over  5:%  of  the  total  sub- 
scriptions taken,"  part  of  this  being  national  bank  subscrip- 
tions. Northampton,  Mass.,  "not  two  per  cent,  of  subscribers 
designated  the  object";  Philadelphia,  perhaps  half  a  million  out 
about  twenty  millions,  due  to  certain  corporations  and  banks — 
small  in  number  not  over  one  hundred  cards  being  designated 
out  of  about  600,000  subscribers ;  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  "not  many — 
will  not  reach  5%.";  Osage  City,  Kan.,  $100  out  of  a  total  of 
$21,00.     Roanoke,  Va.,  sent  the  following  schedule: 


For  Red  Cross, 

.  • 

$     8,098.02 

For  Y.  M.  C.  A., 

1,487.34 

For  Y.  W.  C.  A., 

426.96 

For  Associated  Charities, 

496.47 

For  Salvation  Army, 

547.80 

For  City  Hospital, 

5,057.64 

For  Colored  Hospital, 

122.00 

For  Free  Medical  Dispensary, 

56.00 

For  Play  Grounds, 

1.00 

For  Travelers'  Aid, 

15.64 

For  War  Camp  Fund, 

15.50 

For  Visiting  Nurses'  Association, 

6.00 

For  Knights  of  Columbus  (37  pledges). 

390.83 

Against  Knights  of  Columbus 

(28  pledges), 

604.00 

For  Causes  unable  to  apportion  amounts, 

1,750.00 

Unconditional  pledges, 

212,225.87 

$231,301.07 

91 


Salem,  Mass.,  answered  *'none";  Savannah,  Ga.,  *Very  few, 
value  $5,000  out  of  a  total  of  $310,000 ;  Sheboygan  ''some  for 
Red  Cross  only" ;  Tonawanda,  ''value  $24.00  a  year  out  of  total 
of  $202,500.";  Toledo,  "extremely  small,  both  as  to  number  and 
amount";  York,  Pa.,  about  12  out  of  15,000  subscribers,  with  a 
total  value  of  about  $1,500  out  of  $400,000. 

Cities  which  largely  ignored  the  matter  were  Rome,  N.  Y., 
in  which  no  gifts  were  designated,  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  which 
perhaps  $10,000  was  designated,  and  Utica,  N'.  Y.,  in  which  both 
number  and  amount  were  small.  A  number  of  other  cities 
which  do  not  report  whether  or  not  designated  gifts  were  for- 
bidden, state  that  none  were  received.  Among  these  are  Che- 
mung, N.  Y.,  Coschocton,  Ohio,  Elkhart,  Ind.,  Ely,  Minn.,  Keno- 
sha, Wis.,  Lansing,  Mich.,  Newberry,  Mich.,  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  and 
Sycamore,  111. 

One  or  two  cities  reported  that  they  prohibited  such  gifts 
and  that  some  slight  friction  resulted.  Vevay,  Indiana,  writes : 
"We  had  three  persons  in  the  county  that  wanted  their  contri- 
butions applied  to  the  Red  Cross  only.  We  accepted  |their 
money  on  that  condition,  value  $36.00."  Lambertville,  N.  J., 
reported  that  several  large  sums  were  contributed  direct  to  the 
Red  Cross.  Salem,  Mass.,  reported  that  several  people  said 
they  would  give  to  the  individual  agencies,  and  an  effort  is  now 
being  made  to  discover  whether  they  did  as  they  said  they  would 
or  simply  used  this  as  an  excuse. 

It  must  be  remembered  in  the  cases  of  all  the  cities  that 
national  banks  are  required  to  designate  their  gifts  for  the 
Red  Cross  and  the  statistics  above  include  many  such  cases 
beside  those  which  are  specifically  noted  in  the  text. 

Recognizing  the  incomplete  and  rough  character  of  this 
sort  of  a  tabulation  it  remains,  nevertheless,  the  best  it  has  been 
possible  to  make  and  appears  to  contain  whatever  there  is  of 
data  available  which  is  based  on  actual  experience.  Impartial 
scrutiny  can  lead  to  no  other  conclusion  than  that  the  theoreti- 
cal arguments  on  the  subject  appear  to  lack  confirmation  in  ex- 
perience. On  the  contrary  instead  of  indications  that  the  mass 
of  people  are  interested  in  specific  organizations  we  find  it  to 
be  more  true  that  they  are  interested  in  the  work  rather  than 
in  the  organizations  to  which  the  work  chances  to  be  committed, 
that  they  are  concerned  about  the  results  rather  than  the  agen- 
cies which  are  to  bring  them  about,  that  the  welfare  of  the 
soldier,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  is  more  in  their  minds  than 
the  problem  of  which  precise  instrument  shall  carry  forward 
the  ministry  to  that  welfare.  As  one  individual  put  it,  "It  is 
undeniable  that  the  Red  Cross  and  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation had  no  such  clienteles  before  the  war  as  now  are  con- 
tributing to  the  support  of  war  work.  The  present  body  of 
givers  cannot  be  regarded  as  the  clientele  of  any  organization. 

92 


They  are  the  clientele  of  the  American  soldier.  These  agencies 
are  deriving  their  immensely  increased  support  from  the  public, 
not  because  of  their  individual  merits  but  because  they  are  of- 
ficially endorsed  by  the  Government  as  the  instruments  which 
it  has  selected  to  assist  in  the  maintenance  of  the  morale  of  the 
American  army."  While  one  may  quarrel  with  that  statement 
of  the  case  the  root  idea  beneath  it  seems,  in  the  light  of  exper- 
ience, to  be  essentially  sound.  These  agencies  are  appealing 
to  a  new  public.  The  smaller  ones  never  reached  more  than  an 
imperceptible  portion  of  the  public  before.  The  Knights  of 
Columbus  never  engaged  in  public  solicitation  before.  The  Red 
Triangle  appeals  now  to  a  vastly  wider  and  largely  different 
public  and  for  new  and  broader  purposes  than  ever  before. 
Even  the  Red  Cross  never  before  approached  the  great  mass 
of  people  who  have  now  become  contributors.  No  one  of  these 
agencies  therefore,  despite  its  breadth  and  size  before  the  war, 
places  its  main  reliance  upon  its  old  clientele. 

The  experience  in  war  chest  cities  would  seem  to  indicate 
that  men  and  women  find  themselves  puzzled  by  the  multiplicity 
of  calls  and  recognize  the  fact  that  among  agencies  equally  en- 
dorsed by  the  highest  officials  of  the  nation  they  are  not  in- 
dividually competent  to  discriminate  as  to  relative  values  and 
consequent  need  for  support. 

The  arguments  in  question  have  a  tendency  to  imply  that 
these  agencies  are  competing.  Certainly  that  would  be  most 
unfortunate.  It  is  true  that  all  these  agencies  with  direct  gov- 
ernmental endorsement  are  engaged  in  a  work  which  has  in 
final  analysis  an  identical  aim,  namely,  the  maintenance  and 
development  of  morale  and  the  consequent  upbuilding  of  the 
efficiency  of  the  fighting  forces.  But  the  Red  Cross  does  not  do 
the  work  assigned  to  the  Fosdick  Com.mission.  Within  that 
commission  the  tasks  assigned  to  the  Library  Association  and 
those  assigned  to  the  War  Camp  Community  Service  and  to  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  are  quite  distinct.  It  is 
true  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Knights 
of  Columbus,  the  Jewish  W^elfare  League,  and  the  Salvation 
Army  are  engaged  in  much  the  same  work  but  they  ought  not 
to  be  presented  to  the  public  as  competitors.  All  have  govern- 
mental endorsement.  The  Salvation  Army,  though  not  under 
the  Fosdick  Commission,  had  a  letter  from  the  President  of  the 
LTnited  States  expressing  his  admiration  for  the  work  it  had 
done  and  his  sincere  "hope  that  it  may  be  fully  sustained." 
Moreover  much  emphasis  is  put  upon  the  cordial  relations  and 
cooperation  among  these  agencies.  The  Jewish  work  is  being 
carried  forward  in  France  as  a  branch  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  The  huts  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus 
and  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  are  open  to  the  workers 
of  both.     When  their  drives  for  money  have  been  going  for- 


ward  they  have  exchanged  speakers  in  many  communities  and  it 
is  demonstrable  that  Protestants  have  contributed  liberally  to 
the  Knights  of  Columbus  and  Catholics  to  the  Red  Triangle. 
In  short,  the  common  aim  of  all  these  organizations,  the  common 
endorsement  of  all  these  organizations,  and  the  broad  catholicity 
of  spirit  engendered  by  the  war  have  all  operated  to  break  down 
ancient  prejudices  so  far  that  experiences,  even  outside  of  war 
chest  cities,  has  demonstrated  that  the  argument  in  question  is 
unsound. 

In  view  of  all  these  things  it  is  not  surprising  that  prejudice 
did  not  prove  so  strong  as  arguments  from  theory  made  it  ap- 
pear or  that  the  people  were  unwilling  to  turn  over  the  matter 
of  apportioning  their  gifts  to  an  impartial  and  broadly  repre- 
sentative body. 

Of  course  it  must  be  recognized  that  prejudice  has  occa- 
sionally made  itself  felt.  In  the  fall  of  1917  the  disbursement 
committee  of  the  Syracuse  War  Chest  made  an  appropriation 
for  the  Knights  of  Columbus.  Certain  elements  protested  vig- 
orously. A  candid  statement  was  made  through  the  press  by 
Mr.  D.  E.  Petit,  the  treasurer  of  the  fund,  and  the  agitation 
subsided.  As  some  gauge  of  the  extent  of  the  dissatisfaction 
it  may  be  pointed  out  that  in  its  second  campaign  the  amount 
subscribed  was  more  than  double  that  of  the  first  year.  This 
indicates  that  the  whole  question  had  ceased  to  agitate  the  pub- 
lic mind.  In  another  city  different  methods  produced  different 
results.  A  policy  of  silence  and  refusal  to  explain  allowed  the 
agitation  to  develop  until  it  reached  large  proportions.  Much 
must  depend  upon  the  personnel  of  those  in  charge  and  upon 
the  tact  and  wisdom  of  their  presentation  of  the  question. 

The  conclusion  which  has  been  reached  from  the  study  of 
the  material  on  this  topic  is  that  the  question  is  not  so  serious 
as  has  often  been  supposed.  Nevertheless  it  seems  wise  not  to 
prohibit  the  designation  of  gifts,  while  not  on  the  other  hand 
encouraging  them.  The  reasons  for  this  conclusion  are  that  it 
destroys  the  excuse  of  the  person  who  would  like  to  use  the 
argument  about  designating  where  his  money  shall  go  in  order 
to  avoid  giving  anything;  in  the  second  place,  however  few 
there  may  be  who  have  a  distinct  preference  or  prejudice,  it  is 
their  money  which  is  being  given,  and  while  it  is  proper  to 
point  out  to  them  that  the  practice  is  not  wholly  desirable  their 
wishes  ought  to  be  respected;  and  in  the  third  place,  since  the 
amount  is  almost  invariably  small,  it  does  not  undulj?"  compli- 
cate the  bookkeeping.  It  is  perhaps  not  generally  recognized 
that  much  the  same  practice  prevails  in  the  matter  of  giving  to 
the  Red  Cross,  that  a  person  may,  in  making  his  subscription 
to  the  Red  Cross,  designate  the  manner  in  which  it  is  to  be  used, 
but  the  results  indicate  that  the  experience  of  the  Red  Cross  is 
much  the  sam.e  as  in  the  case  of  the  war  chests. 

94 


Competition. 

It  is  usually  believed  and  is  unquestionably  true  that  com- 
petition of  one  sort  or  other  is  one  of  the  most  certain  methods 
of  securing  a  large  community  gift.  Some  few  cities  reported 
that  they  made  no  effort  to  have  a  contest  of  any  kind  on  the 
ground  that  there  was  no  need  to  stimulate  giving  through 
competition  because  the  citizens  of  the  community  had  been  so 
thoroughly  roused  to  the  needs  created  by  the  war.  Among 
these  are  some  successful  war  chests  but  the  most  successful 
ones  are  almost  invariably  those  which  have  paid  the  most  at- 
tention to  the  matter  of  stimulating  competition. 

Competition  may  be  of  several  sorts.  The  first  kind  is  a 
team  competition.  This  is  by  no  means  universal  but  has  been 
made  the  keynote  in  certain  instances,  notably  in  Springfield, 
Mass.,  where  a  great  effort  was  made  to  render  the  competition 
between  the  teams  fair  by  careful  rating,  by  impartial  assign- 
ment of  prospect  cards,  and  by  the  development  of  separate 
groups — the  Navy  for  the  large  givers,  the  Home  Guard  for  the 
persons  in  the  home,  the  Army  for  the  industrial  givers,  etc. — 
each  team  competing  only  with  the  teams  in  its  own  group. 
Thus  at  the  cost  of  great  pains  the  competitive  feature  was 
given  freest  rein  and  the  results  were  extraordinary  in  pro- 
ducing close  competition. 

Many  cities  added  to  the  team  competition  a  factory  com- 
petition. Under  this  plan  an  effort  was  made  to  induce  the 
several  departments  to  engage  in  rivalry  to  see  which  could 
get  the  highest  percentage  of  its  members  enrolled  and  a  special 
card  was  given  to  each  department  which  secured  100%  enroll- 
ment, and  sometimes  a  card  for  75%  enrollment  or  better.  Like- 
v/ise  between  factories  the  percentage  of  enrollment  competi- 
tion was  stimulated.  This  has  worked  out  as  one  of  the  very 
best  methods  of  securing  pledges,  and  the  results  in  cities  like 
Rochester,  Utica  and  Columbus  were  nothing  short  of  extraor- 
dinary, as  many  as  97%  of  all  the  workers  in  some  cities  having 
pledged  to  contribute  to  the  war  chest.  The  result  has  been  in 
many  cases  that  of  all  the  groups  who  participated  in  war  chest 
giving  the  industrial  employees  have  done  more  in  proportion  to 
their  means  than  any  other. 

Several  cities  extended  this  type  of  competition  to  stores, 
to  newspaper  offices,  to  public  utilities,  and  in  fact  to  any  es- 
tablishment where  a  group  of  people  v.^as  employed.  As  far  as 
possible  various  concerns  which  have  a  natural  rivalry  already 
were  thrown  into  competition  by  means  of  public  bulletin  boards 
and  subscriptions  stimulated  in  that  fashion. 

Most  of  these  schemes  for  devolping  rivalry  use  a  percen- 
tage basis,  rather  than  the  amount  pledged,  as  the  keynote  of 
competition.  In  Albany,  for  example,  this  type  of  competition 
was  carried  into  the  homes  division,  each  major  tried  to  see  to 

95 


it  that  his  ward  had  a  larger  percentage  of  population  enrolled 
than  any  other.  The  emphasis  was  not  put  upon  amounts,  be- 
cause of  the  differences  in  wealth  in  various  parts  of  the  city, 
which  would  make  that  an  unfair  basis  for  competitive  effort. 
Toledo,  Ohio,  atte;:npted  to  reach  something  like  the  same  result 
by  means  of  assigning  each  ward  a  quota.  The  competition 
consisted  in  an  effort  to  be  the  first  to  reach  the  assigned  quota 
and  after  that  to  oversubscribe  the  most  liberally.  This  did  not 
work  out  as  well  as  was  expected. 

Rochester  succeeded  in  combining  factory  competition  on 
a  percentage  basis  with  team  competition  on  the  basis  of 
amounts  raised,  because  of  the  care  that  was  exercised  in  assign- 
ing plants  to  teams  in  such  fashion  that  each  team  had  an  equal 
number  of  prospects,  of  a  value  equal  to  those  of  every  other 
team.  This  has  the  advantage  that  it  stimulates  not  only  uni- 
versal giving  but  universal  giving  on  a  sacrificial  scale.  When- 
ever competition  can  reasonably  be  put  on  a  basis  of  amounts, 
it  produces  larger  giving  as  well  as  practically  universal  giving. 

War  chests  which  cover  a  number  of  towns  have  found  it 
advisable  to  have  a  competition  among  comm.unities  embraced. 
The  war  chest  of  Lewis  County,  New  York,  for  example,  gave  a 
banner  to  the  town  which  first  oversubscribed  its  quota.  Phil- 
adelphia had  a  flag  competition  between  the  various  divisions 
and  counties.  Each  was  given  a  quota  and  whenever  that  quota 
was  reached,  a  flag  was  awarded  and  for  every  25%  over-sub- 
scription, a  shield  was  attached  to  the  flag.  This  was  on  the 
same  principle,  of  course,  as  honor  flags  in  third  Liberty  loan. 

In  view  of  the  experience  of  cities,  it  seems  that  an  effort 
should  be  made  to  have  competition  between  teams  in  the  homes 
division  on  the  basis  of  percentage  of  population  enrolled.  This 
involves  careful  differentiation  of  the  population  of  the  homes 
division  from  the  total  population  in  the  area  because  of  the 
fact  that  many  are  reached  in  the  industrial  campaign.  This 
should  be  done  only  if  it  cannot  be  done  without  a  great  deal 
of  difficulty.  Without  a  complete  system  of  prospect  cards  or 
at  least  a  census,  it  is  virtually  impossible.  Not  enough  money 
is  received  from  this  division  to  m.ake  it  worth  while  going  into 
difficult  and  expensive  competition  in  order  to  stimulate  a  con- 
test in  amounts.  Usually  there  is  no  way  in  which,  under  the 
system  outlined  above,  a  fair  quota  can  be  fixed  for  the  different 
wards  covered  by  the  homes  division  inasmuch  as  so  many  peo- 
ple will  be  reached  away  from  home  that  it  would  be  necessary 
to  rate  the  stay-at-homes  in  order  to  reach  such  a  quota. 

As  to  other  divisions,  it  is  worth  while  to  spend  a  great  deal 
of  effort  to  stimulate  rivalries  through  a  percentage  competition 
and  so  gain  a  maximum  number  of  subscribers;  and  also  to 
assign  prospects  on  the  Rochester,  or  Springfield,  or  some  ana- 
logous plan  so  that  there  will  be  a  competition  in  amounts,  as 
well,  for  this  stimulates  large  giving. 

96 


Use  of  Pressure. 

A  discussion  of  the  use  of  pressure  belongs  rather  in  a 
treatise  on  campaign  ethics  than  a  report  on  war  chest  prac- 
tice. It  becomes  necessary  to  deal  with  the  subject  because  the 
war  chest  makes  the  use  of  pressure  easier  and  more  justifiable. 
The  use  of  pressure  becomes  easier  because  of  the  possibility, 
through  concentration  of  effort,  of  building  an  intensive  cam- 
paign so  that  every  individual  can  be  reached,  and  can  be  reach- 
ed in  the  company  of  his  fellows,  who  if  it  seems  desirable  can 
exert  pressure.  There  is  no  question  that  in  many  cases  pres- 
sure has  been  used.  In  one  city  in  some  factories  where  only 
one  or  two  individuals  refused  to  give,  their  associates  demand- 
ed their  discharge  and  struck  to  enforce  their  demand.  In  an- 
other instance  a  man  was  compelled  by  social  pressure  to  leave 
his  employment.  The  matter  went  so  far  in  one  city  that  a  few 
of  those  who  refused  to  subscribe  were  given  a  coat  of  yellow 
paint,  and  rumor  has  it  that  elsewhere  tar  and  feathers  were 
resorted  to. 

These  instances  are  not  typical — they  are  extreme — but 
they  illustrate  the  fact  that  under  the  war  chest  plan  pressure 
can  be  used  if  it  meets  the  judgment  of  the  committee  and  the 
desires  of  the  subscribers. 

To  condemn  the  war  chest  on  the  basis  of  such  extreme 
manifestations  would  be  absurd  because  it  would  overlook  en- 
tirely the  fact  that  other  cities  operating  under  the  war  chest 
principle  show  equally  extreme  instances  of  refusal  to  use  pres- 
sure. An  illustration  in  point  is  the  warning  given  solicitors 
in  Terre  Haute,  quoted  elsewhere,  that  they  must  not  be  found 
even  making  a  suggestion  as  to  what  any  individual  should  do. 
Coshocton,  Ohio,  specifically  warned  the  solicitors  that  "no  in- 
timidation or  coercion  should  be  attempted"  and  stated  "It  is 
desired  to  reiterate  what  has  frequently  been  explained  that 
there  are  cases  where  people  should  be  excused  entirely  from 
giving  because  of  financial  distress  or  other  extraordinary  rea- 
sons." The  point  under  discussion  is  simply  that  the  highly 
organized  character  which  the  war  chest  may  assume  makes 
it  possible  to  use  pressure  if  that  is  the  desire  of  the  community. 

At  the  same  time  the  war  chest  plan  makes  the  use  of 
pressure  more  justifiable  or  more  nearly  justifiable,  whichever 
statement  one  may  prefer.  The  question  whether  pressure  is 
ever  justifiable  in  an  effort  to  rouse  people  to  giving  is  one  of 
opinion.  Each  moralist  will  settle  the  matter  positively  for 
himself  but  for  no  one  else.  This  report  makes  no  effort  to 
express  a  judgment  on  that  topic.  It  is  concerned  merely  to 
this  extent  that  if  pressure  is  ever  justifiable  it  is  proper  in  the 
case  of  a  war  chest.  If  a  man  refuses  to  give  to  one  agency 
conducting  a  drive,  on  the  ground  that  he  prefers  to  give  to 
another  organization,  it  is  very  difficult  under  those  circum- 

97 


stances  to  justify  the  use  of  pressure  to  compel  him  to  give. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  under  the  war  chest  plan  all  patriotic 
solicitations  are  merged,  there  is  not  the  same  reason  why  pres- 
sure should  not  be  used  to  induce  a  niggard  to  loosen  his  purse 
strings,  particularly  if  his  prejudice  is  so  far  catered  to  as  to 
allow  him  to  designate  the  use  to  which  his  gift  may  be  put. 
After  all,  these  agencies  come  to  the  public  with  government 
endorsement  as  vital  to  the  effective  conduct  of  the  war.  In  a 
sense,  therefore,  contribution  to  their  support  is  a  part  of  pa- 
triotic duty.  Contribution  to  Siiiy  specific  one  of  them  is  not  a 
part  of  patriotic  duty  but  contribution  to  some  of  them  certainly 
is.  The  war  chest  calls  upon  a  man  to  give  to  some  few  or 
some  one  of  them.  It  is  a  call,  therefore,  to  performance  of 
patriotic  duty.  Surely,  if  pressure  is  ever  justifiable  in  the 
matter  of  giving  it  is  under  these  circumstances. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  draw  clear  lines  between  rivalry, 
stimulus,  and  pressure.  Because  of  its  efficient  organization 
and  its  broad  character,  rivalry  is  intensified  under  the  war 
chest,  enthusiasm  with  its  consequent  stimulus  is  greater  than 
ever  before,  and  pressure  of  that  character  as  w^ell  as  of  a  moral 
sort  is,  broadly  speaking,  greater  than  under  the  drive  system. 

The  channels  through  which  pressure,  apart  from  that 
spontaneously  engendered  by  rivalry,  manifests  itself  are  chiefly 
through  the  work  of  the  revision  committee  and  the  publication 
of  names. 

In  one  city  those  who  had  clearly  failed  to  measure  up  to 
their  responsibilities  were  asked  to  visit  the  executive  committee 
in  order  that  there  might  be  a  frank  discussion  of  the  matter. 
This  serves  as  a  fairly  typical  example  of  the  work  done  in 
perhaps  a  dozen  cities  by  bodies  variously  known  as  "headquar- 
ters committee",  "executive  committee",  or  "the  wrecking 
crew."  The  methods  of  these  committees  vary  from  the  most 
thoroughly  patient  and  helpful  discussion  with  a  view  to  open- 
ing the  eyes  of  the  subscriber  to  his  duty,  to  something  perilous- 
ly close  to  strong  arm  methods.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
dogmatize  about  this  practice  because  the  differences  in  degree 
are  so  great  that  they  amount  to  differences  in  kind. 

The  second  channel  of  pressure  is  through  the  publication 
of  names.  This  practice  is  not  original  with  or  peculiar  to  the 
war  chest.  A  great  many  war  chest  officials  violently  disap- 
prove of  the  practice.  It  is  probably  fair  to  say  the  majority 
disapproves.  On  the  other  hand,  some  committees  in  charge 
of  drives  use  this  method.  For  example,  the  names  of  all  the 
subscribers  to  the  second  Red  Cross  War  Fund  in  New  Haven 
are  published  together  with  the  amounts. 

The  basis  for  this,  whether  used  in  a  drive  for  a  separate 
agency  or  for  the  war  chest,  is  that  the  publication  of  names 
brings  pressure  only  upon  those  whom  it  will  ultimately  benefit 
by   initiating  them   into   the   practice   of   giving.     Committees 

98 


often  feel  furthermore  that  in  time  of  war  people  ought  to  be 
willing  to  'stand  up  and  be  counted'  and  frequently  a  war  chest 
is  run  with  that  as  its  slogan. 

In  one  city  the  problem  was  stated  this  way: 

"The  question  is  whether  you  have  reached  the  point  where  there 
are  no  slackers.  In  some  cities — for  example,  Toronto,  Canada, — • 
there  would  be  no  practical  value  in  publishing  names  because  the 
community  has  become  so  thoroughly  absorbed  in  the  war  that  anyone 
not  wholly  in  sympathy  has  long  since  been  brought  into  the  open. 
In  most  American  cities,  however,  there  are  still  a  number  who  need 
to  have  the  nature  and  extent  of  their  obligations  brought  home  to 
them  with   somewhat  more  vigor  than  they  have  yet  had." 

It  must  be  said  too  that  part  of  the  objection  to  this  prac- 
tice rests  upon  the  fact  that  large  givers  who  in  times  before 
the  war  allowed  their  names  to  be  published  inevitably  found 
themselves  put  on  the  ''sucker  lists"  of  various  charitable  ap- 
peals, and  thus  there  developed  a  prejudice  against  the  publica- 
tion of  either  names  or  amounts.  The  objection  on  this  score 
does  not  apply  with  anything  like  equal  force  in  time  of  war 
because  there  are  other  considerations  which  are  very  much 
more  important. 

One  other  thing  ought  to  be  said.  So  far  as  cities  have 
reported,  none  which  adopted  the  practice  of  publishing  names 
would  do  otherwise  in  another  campaign.  On  the  other  hand, 
several  cities  which  did  not  follow  this  idea,  though  they  met 
with  success,  said  nevertheless  that  were  they  to  campaign  again, 
names  would  be  published. 

Those  who  had  charge  of  the  war  chest  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
feel  that  this  was  one  of  the  strongest  features  of  their  cam- 
paign and  that  while  there  was  a  good  deal  of  complaint  at 
the  outset  it  speedily  disappeared.  Hudson  Falls,  N.  Y.,  found 
also  that  it  became  the  source  of  some  objection,  particularly 
because  some  few  were  too  modest  to  have  their  names  publish- 
ed. Those,  however,  who  objected  most  vigorously  were  those 
who  did  not  wish  to  do  their  share  and  the  committee  felt  that 
the  publication  of  names  and  amounts  was  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable features  of  their  effort.  Salem,  Mass.,  published  the 
names  and  amounts  and  found  the  chief  complaint  came  from 
those  who  did  not  give  what  they  ought.  They  found,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  certain  of  their  larger  contributors  complained 
at  the  outset,  but  on  having  it  pointed  out  to  them  that  by  allow- 
ing it  they  were  helping  to  smoke  out  shirkers  their  opposition 
was  withdrawn.  Lynn,  Mass.,  decided  upon  this  plan  at  the 
last  moment  after  many  pledges  had  been  taken.  Some  people 
telephoned  in  and  withdrew  their  pledges.  The  war  fund  asso- 
ciation returned  those  subscriptions  without  comment.  The 
committee  in  charge  feel,  however,  that  fully  ten  times  as  much 

99 


as  was  lost  came  in  because  the  names  of  the  givers  were  pub- 
lished together  with  the  amounts  which  they  subscribed.  Glens 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  published  each  day  a  list  of  all  the  givers  and  the 
amounts.  It  is  believed  there  that  they  did  not  lose  a  single 
subscriber,  rather  that  they  gained  greatly  both  in  numbers 
and  amounts.  The  directors,  therefore,  are  substantially  unan- 
imous in  the  statement  that  it  was  a  wise  policy  though  at  first 
some  of  them  opposed  it  with  vigor.  Albany  decided  to  publish 
the  names  and  amounts  after  the  campaign  was  launched. 
There  were  some  who  objected  but  none  withdrew  their  sub- 
scriptions. On  the  contrary,  after  it  became  known  that  names 
and  amounts  would  be  published  a  large  number  of  people  be- 
sieged the  war  chest  office  in  person  and  by  telephone  to  in- 
crease their  subscriptions. 

Frequently  it  is  argued  that  this  practice  bears  with  un- 
equal weight  upon  those  who  cannot  give  largely  and  who  feel 
some  stigma  attaching  to  them  when  their  names  are  published 
with  meagre  amounts  after  them.  In  practice — if  reports  from 
the  various  cities  are  to  be  trusted — there  was  no  objection  on 
the  part  of  the  small  givers.  In  practically  ever  instance  con- 
tributors of  this  class  took  to  the  plan  because  they  realized  that 
while  they  gave  less  it  w^as  often  more  in  proportion  than  some 
of  the  larger  contributions  and  they  knew  that  their  associates 
would  recognize  that  fact. 

A  number  of  cities  did  not  publish  all  names  and  amounts 
but  only  those  of  the  larger  subscribers.  This  was  not  done  in 
order  to  make  an  invidious  distinction  or  even  because  of  fear 
lest  the  small  givers  be  mortified,  but  because  of  the  physical 
problem  involved.  It  was  found  to  be  practically  impossible  to 
get  space  enough  to  publish  all  names  and  amounts.  Further- 
more, they  believed  that  the  smaller  givers  did  not  need  this 
sort  of  stimulus  inasmuch  as  they  were  subjected  to  sufficient 
pressure  through  the  desire  of  their  fellows  to  have  100%  fac- 
tories or  stores.  Cities  which  followed  this  practice  were,  for 
example,  Cleveland,  which  published  the  names  and  amounts  of 
all  who  gave  over  $100.00;  Detroit,  which  published  the  names 
and  amounts  of  all  who  gave  $500.00  or  more ;  and  Toledo  which 
published  the  names  of  those  who  gave  largely. 

Still  other  cities  have  adopted  the  plan  of  publishing  the 
names  and  amounts,  not  during  the  drive,  but  after  it  is  over. 
For  the  most  part  this  is  done  simply  because  of  the  physical 
problem  involved,  since  pledges  pour  in  at  such  a  rate  that  it  is 
impossible  to  list  them  accurately  for  publication  and  because 
of  the  fact  that  they  take  too  much  expensive  space  in  the  news- 
papers. The  only  argument  beyond  that  arising  from  the 
physical  problem  is  that  publication  of  names  after  the  cam- 
paign includes  only  those  who  have  fulfilled  their  pledges  in 
some  measure  at  least  and  so  gives  credit  only  to  those  who  have 
demonstrated  their  good  faith. 

100 


A  number  of  cities  published  simply  the  names  but  not  the 
amounts,  on  the  ground  that  publication  of  amounts  gave  ad- 
vertising to  the  large  people  and  made  invidious  distinctions 
between  them  and  smaller  givers,  and  also  on  the  ground  that 
the  publication  of  amounts  encouraged  a  tendency  to  gossip  as 
to  the  size  of  the  contribution  of  a  given  individual  who  was 
popularly  supposed  to  have  more  money  than  he  actually  had 
and  might  result  in  some  unnecessary  humiliation.  Cities  which 
published  the  amounts  feel  that  these  arguments  do  not  apply 
so  seriously  as  some  presume,  but  this  at  least  was  the  basis  on 
which  many  committees  reasoned. 

A  modification  of  this  plan  is  found  in  the  use  of  the  honor 
roll,  which  was  employed,  for  example,  in  the  Red  Cross  drive 
in  Hartford.  Under  this  plan  the  names  of  those  who  contrib- 
ute in  any  given  factory  or  store  or  office  are  posted  conspic- 
uously, sometimes  with  and  sometimes  without  the  amounts. 
This  is  practically  the  same  as  the  publication  of  names,  be- 
cause it  advertises  a  person  to  his  own  public,  and  whereas  in 
a  long  list  his  name  might  be  overlooked  by  his  friends,  this 
Ijlan  brings  the  absentee  into  conspicuous  prominence  among 
those  with  whom  he  has  day-to-day  contact.  Occasionally  this 
is  used  in  addition  to  newspaper  publicity;  more  frequently,  as 
a  substitute. 

Still  another  practice  which  has  developed  is  the  publishing 
of  names  of  those  who  refuse  to  give  in  a  "slackers'  list."  This 
has  been  threatened  in  a  number  of  cases  but  has  been  done  in 
relatively  few.  Part  of  the  explanation  comes  from  the  fact 
that  cities  have  usually  been  happily  surprised  at  the  small 
number  who  refused  to  subscribe  and  have  felt  in  consequence 
that  it  was  not  worth  while  to  publish  their  names.  As  one 
prominent  war  chest  advocate  put  it  in  a  city  where  this  was 
threatened,  "Why  destroy  the  joy  of  thousands  by  publishing 
the  names  of  a  couple  of  slackers?  It  is  far  better  to  keep  that 
word  from  being  heard  at  all  either  during  or  after  the  cam- 
paign and  to  lay  the  emphasis  upon  the  number  of  our  patriots 
and  to  stimulate  people  in  that  way,  than  to  lay  the  emphasis 
upon  those  who  are  slackers  and  depend  upon  clubbing  them." 

Escanaba,  Mich.,  published  not  only  the  names  of  those 
who  refused  to  contribute  but  also  the  names  of  those  who 
sought  to  pay  less  than  they  should.  It  is  perfectly  obvious 
that  the  publication  of  the  names  of  those  who  refuse  to  give 
is  a  more  delicate  problem  than  the  publishing  of  the  names 
and  amounts  of  those  who  do  give  and  to  publish  the  names  of 
those  who  do  not  give  all  they  should  is  a  task  more  delicate 
still.  Certainly  if  either  of  these  two  latter  plans  is  follo^ved — 
and  neither  is  advised — the  list  should  be  very  carefully  checked 
over  and  the  individuals  in  question  should  be  given  repeated 
opportunity  to  subscribe,  because  so  much  depends  upon  the 

101 


personality  and  approach  of  the  solicitor  that  injustice  may 
very  easily  result. 

One  or  two  cities  are  planning  to  publish  books.  Lynn, 
Mass.,  projected  a  plan — whether  carried  to  consummation  or 
not  has  not  been  ascertained — by  which  a  book  was  to  be  built 
up  on  the  basis  of  the  city's  patriotic  census.  Every  person  in 
the  city  was  to  be  listed  together  with  what  he  gave  to  the  war 
chest,  and  a  statement  wheher  he  had  bought  T liberty  Bonds  and 
War  Savings  Stamps,  whether  he  was  a  member  of  the  Red 
Cross,  and  what  patriotic  work  he  was  doing.  Copies  are  to  be 
sent  to  all  the  soldiers  and  sailors  from  that  city  in  order  that 
they  may  see  just  which  people  back  hom.e  are  supporting  their 
efforts  and  to  what  extent. 

There  is  just  one  other  practice  in  this  matter  of  the  pub- 
lication of  names  which  requires  a  word  of  comment,  namely, 
the  proposal  of  certain  cities  to  publish  the  names  of  delinquents. 
This,  if  it  is  done  at  all,  must  be  done  with  the  most  extreme 
care.  Some  people  will  unquestionably  be  delinquent  justifi- 
ably because  of  sickness,  accident,  unemployment,  or  other 
causes,  and  a  very  careful  process  of  checking  up  and  a  very 
discriminatory  judgment  will  be  requisite  before  delinquents* 
names  are  sent  to  the  press. 

In  conclusion  it  seems  inescapable  that,  inasmuch  as  every 
city  which  has  reported  that  it  followed  the  practice  of  publish- 
ing names  and  amounts  endorses  it  as  wise,  and  since  criticisms 
come  only  from  cities  which  have  not  tested  the  plan,  the  idea 
is  not  without  merit  if  one  is  a  convert  to  the  use  of  pressure 
in  any  form.  If,  however,  the  plan  is  adopted  it  should  be 
clearly  stated  well  in  advance  of  the  campaign,  the  reasons 
should  be  candidly  set  forth,  no  exceptions  made  in  practice, 
and  promises  rigidly  fulfilled. 

The  publication  of  names  without  the  amounts  has  by  no 
means  the  same  value.  It  stimulates  only  in  the  direction  of 
producing  a  number  of  givers,  not  in  the  direction  of  produc- 
ing adequate  gifts.  The  use  of  the  honor  roll  is  an  effective 
substitute  for,  as  well  as  a  valuable  adjunct  to,  newspaper  pub- 
licity. 

Publication  of  names  after  the  campaign  is  over  is  less  use- 
ful than  publication  contemporaneously,  but  has  the  counter- 
vailing advantage  of  being  a  test  of  the  sincerity  of  pledges  if 
published  after  a  few  payments  have  been  made.  In  many 
cases,  especially  in  large  cities,  this  plan  will  have  to  be  follow- 
ed if  the  names  are  to  be  published  at  all. 

The  publication  of  the  names  of  those  who  refuse  to  con- 
tribute is  less  likely  to  be  fair  and  wise  and  the  publication  of 
those  'who  contribute  less  than  they  ought  requires  so  much 
judgment  and  such  intimate  knowledge  of  the  personal  con- 
cerns of  so  many  people,  that  it  seems  to  be  distincly  unwise. 

102 


Follow-up  Subscriptions. 

Industrial  —  The  war  chests  in  several  cities,  but  by  no 
means  in  all,  have  a  well-developed  system  of  handling  the  prob- 
lem of  getting  new  subscribers  in* conjunction  with  their  schemes 
for  taking  care  of  labor  turn-over.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into 
this  in  any  detail.  Distinctly  the  best  plan  is  to  have  a  perma- 
nent organization  within  each  factory  and  store  and  a  worth- 
while 100%  sign  for  each  establishment  as  well  as  for  each 
department  within  it.  When  a  new  employee  enters  he  is  so- 
licited, and  if  he  fails  to  subscribe  his  department  and  his  fac- 
tory lose  their  100%  signs,  which  has  a  tendency  to  center  at- 
tention upon  the  individual  who  is  unwilling  to  help.  This  sys- 
tem has  a  tendency  also  to  help  take  care  of  the  labor  turn-over 
problem,  because  it  is  more  certain  to  get  a  report  of  incoming 
employees  to  the  war  chest.  It  has  the  value,  moreover,  that  it 
keeps  the  idea  of  the  war  chest  alive  and  continuously  refreshes 
the  sense  of  responsibility  among  the  men.  In  som.e  cities  this 
work  is  done  through  the  offices  where  men  seek  employment. 
A  better  plan,  and  one  which  has  been  adopted  in  one  Connec- 
ticut city,  is  to  have  that  office  simply  ask  as  one  of  its  questions 
whether  the  man  is  a  subscriber  to  the  war  chest  and  if  not, 
give  him  explanatory  literature,  but  to  leave  the  actual  solicita- 
tion to  some  fellow-employee  in  the  department  in  which  he  is 
to  work. 

Personal — There  are  three  kinds  of  follow-up  work  in  the 
field  of  personal  subscriptions :  first,  reaching  those  who  enter 
a  community  after  one  war  chest  campaign  and  before  the  next 
one,  in  order  that  they  may  not  be  immune  from  giving  for  a 
long  period  of  time;  second,  reaching  those  who  refuse  to  give 
in  the  first  campaign ;  and,  third,  increasing  the  subscriptions  of 
those  who  gave  but  not  in  the  proportion  they  should  from  a 
social  standpoint. 

The  first  problem,  that  of  reaching  the  people  who  enter 
the  community,  is  of  some  importance  both  in  order  that  deaths 
and  removals  may  be  offset,  so  that  the  war  chest  shall  not  fall 
below  its  anticipated  fund,  and  in  order  that  the  absence  of 
drives  may  not  permit  newcomers  to  fail  to  integrate  them- 
selves with  the  community  of  war  givers.  The  methods  which 
have  been  adopted  for  this  are  various.  One  plan  is  to  havq 
a  permanent  organization  in  which  some  individual  is  made  re- 
sponsible for  a  group  of  homes.  When  a  new  family  appears 
{the  is  expected  to  report  them  promptly  together  with  the  new 
address  of  the  family  that  moved  out,  if  obtainable.  PeiTQa- 
nent  organization  along  this  line  has  been  worked  out  in  greater 
or  less  detail  in  Albany,  Glens  Falls,  and  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  Coal- 
dale,  Pa.,  Lansing,  Mich.,  Plymouth,  Ind.,  and  Osage  City,  Kan. 
Other  communities  learn  the  names  and  addresses  of  newcomers 
in  this  manner  but  the  actual  solicitation  is  done  by  mail.    What 

103 


the  advantages  of  this  plan  are  it  is  difficult  to  see;  certainly 
they  are  not  obvious. 

Still  others  reach  these  people  by  means  of  a  special  com- 
mittee, sometimes  called  ''the  vigilance  committee."  For  ex- 
ample, a  boy  scouts'  census  may  be  taken  once  in  three  months, 
the  boys  going  systematically  street  by  street  and  listing  the 
numbers  of  houses  in  which  there  are  no  war  chest  window 
cards.  The  houses  are  then  checked  up  and  the  people  seen 
by  a  special  committee.  One  city  is  using  the  boy  scouts  en- 
tirely, not  merely  to  take  a  survey  of  houses  without  war  chest 
v/indow  cards,  but  also  to  make  the  solicitations  in  such  cases. 
This  is  not  likely  to  produce  large  results,  for  while  the  boys 
are  arduous  workers,  they  are  not  skillful  salesmen.  The  re- 
ply to  this  argument  is  that  not  much  is  produced  in  any  event 
and  that  the  reasons  for  doing  the  work  are  chiefly  moral  rather 
than  financial. 

Still  other  towns  propose  to  have  supplementary  canvasses, 
about  six  months  after  their  original  drives,  to  reach  newcomers 
and  those  who  refused.  Dayton,  Ohio,  plans  to  make  such  an 
effort  in  order  to  round  up  newcomers  and  others.  Melrose, 
Mass.,  has  already  worked  out  plans  for  a  supplementary  cam- 
paign in  September.  Salem,  Mass.,  is  doing  this  on  a  somewhat 
elaborate  basis.  The  committee  has  about  two  thousand  re- 
ports of  persons  who  refused  to  subscribe,  many  of  whom  said 
that  they  intended  to  give  to  specific  agencies.  After  the  oppor- 
tunity to  give  to  those  agencies  shall  have  passed,  the  commit- 
tee proposes  to  check  up  to  see  whether  or  not  they  have  done 
as  they  proposed  and  then  to  go  back  to  them  as  well  as  to  many 
others  in  case  of  their  failure. 

It  is  a  much  more  difficult  problem  to  deal  with  those  who 
have  made  subscriptions  but  w^ho  have  not  given  adequately. 
Broadly  speaking,  where  the  campaign  has  been  thoroughly 
organized  in  advance  these  people  should  be  dealt  with  so  far  as 
they  are  to  be  reached  at  all  at  the  time  of  the  campaign  rather 
than  afterwards.  However,  where  sufficient  preliminary  work 
has  not  been  done  the  revision  committee  must  check  over  the 
subscribers  when  the  campaign  is  complete  and  do  the  best  it 
can  by  means  of  special  visitations  to  induce  more  adequate 
gifts. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  estimates  which  those  in 
charge  of  war  chests  have  put  upon  the  number  who  have  failed 
to  give  and  to  give  in  proper  amounts.  Coaldale,  Pa.,  reports 
that  there  is  only  one  man  who  though  able  to  do  so  has  not 
contributed  and  that  they  propose  to  send  committees  to  him  at 
intervals  until  he  does  subscribe. 

Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  estimates  that  two  hundred  who  were 
able  to  do  so  had  not  given  and  that  others  had  not  given  as 
much  as  they  could.  These  were  to  be  solicited  by  a  committee 
of  twenty-one.     Elwood  figured  that  about  three  hundred  peo- 

104    , 


pie  had  not  done  their  part  and  proposed  to  go  after  them  by 
systematic  effort.  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  estimated  that  less  than 
1%  failed  to  contribute  and  the  number  being  small  no  effort 
will  be  made  to  reach  them  until  the  drive  next  year.  Gran- 
ville, N.  Y.,  reported  about  one  hundred  who  might  have  given 
but  did  not  do  so.  These  are  to  be  visited  by  a  committee  of 
five  influential  citizens.  Herkimer,  N.  Y.,  estimates  about  five 
hundred,  but  believes  that  they  are  gradually  falling  into  line 
voluntarily  as  the  war  progresses  and  its  realities  come  home  to 
them.  Houghton,  Mich.,  believes  there  are  only  twelve  or  four- 
ten  who  contributed  nothing  though  able  to  make  gifts.  They 
will  not  be  disturbed  further.  In  some  cases  the  Houghton 
war  chest  received  subscriptions  smaller  than  it  deemed  proper. 
In  such  a  case  the  subscription  was  simply  returned  with  a  re- 
quest for  an  increase  in  amount,  which  was  complied  with  in 
numerous  cases.  Janes ville.  Wis.,  reports  that  about  one  in 
twentj^-five  did  not  contribute  as  they  should  and  the  commit- 
tee proposes  to  go  after  them  "with  yellow  paint."  Ambridge, 
Pa.,  reports  not  more  than  fifteen  or  twenty  who  failed  to  sub- 
scribe and  that  those  who  gave  less  than  they  ought  are  so  few 
that  nothing  will  be  done  until  the  next  campaign.  Lexington, 
Mass.,  believes  that  about  five  hundred  failed  to  contribute  as 
they  should.  Lowville,  N.  Y.,  estimates  1%  and  the  committee 
plans  to  do  nothing  further  on  the  ground  that  ''they  feel  worse 
than  we  do."  Michigan  City,  Ind.,  says  about  1%  did  not  give 
and  they  are  to  be  followed  through  the  press,  by  mail,  and  by 
personal  solicitation.  The  highest  estimate  comes  from  Roan- 
oke, Va.,  where  is  is  said  that  30%  who  could  have  contributed 
failed  to  do  so.  These  are  fair  examples  of  the  reports  which 
came  in,  though  the  list  is  not  absolutely  complete. 

The  temper  of  the  methods  to  be  employed  in  securing  sup- 
plementary pledges  shows  the  most  striking  variation.  In  sev- 
eral Western  counties  the  names  of  those  who  refused  to  give 
or  give  adequately  have  been  turned  over  to  the  county  council 
of  defense,  which  in  many  places  is  closely  identified  with  and 
in  some  cases  identical  with  the  war  chests.  One  of  the  report 
cards  reads  as  follows : 

''To  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  War  Work  Committee  of  Licking 
County: 

We  desire  to  report  the  name  of , 

address „ ,  for  such  action  as  may  be 

deemed   advisable  for  conduct  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  this 

community  and  our  country,  in  that  he  without  reason  refused  to 

give    information   for   the   survey,   refused    to   buy   Third    Liberty 

Bonds,  refused  to  contribute  to  the  War  Chest,  made  unpatriotic 

remarks." 

There  is  then  space  for  the  names  of  two  workers  and  the  team 

captain  as  well  as  the  division  leader,  so  that  the  report  is 

thoroughly  checked  up  before  being  submitted. 

105 


The  number  of  war  chests  which  are  able  to  employ  the 
county  council  of  defense  is  relatively  small.  Most  depend  for 
the  work  upon  a  committee,  frequently  called  the  "vigilance 
committee"  or  ''follow-up  committee." 

Mail  solicitation  is  not  at  all  uncommon.  A  sample  of  let- 
ters used  in  this  effort  runs  as  follows,  after  the  introductory 
statement : 

"Generally  speaking,  the  contributions  by  citizens  have  been  gen- 
erous. There  are  some,  however,  who  do  not  seem  to  have  appreciated 
either  the  importance  of  the  work  or  its  necessity.  Those  who  do  not 
pay  to  this  fund  or  who  do  not  contribute  their  full  share  of  the 
amount  which  must  be  raised  are  simply  shifting  upon  their  neighbors 
and  friends  the  burden  of  their  own  duty.  After  carefully  examining 
all  the  information  we  have  been  able  to  obtain,  we  are  unanimously 
of  the  opinion  that  the  amount  offered  by  you  is  :^;iot  the  share  of  this 
duty  which  should  be  borne  by  you.  We  are,  however,  extremely  de- 
sirous that  no  injustice  should  be  done  and  that  the  name  of  no  person 
should  be  published  in  a  way  to  bring  adverse  criticism  either  by 
reason  of  failure  to  contribute  or  by  the  inadequacy  of  the  contribu- 
tion, and  we  earnestly  request  before  any  further  action  is  taken  on 
our  part  that  you  meet  with  this  committee  at  our  offices  *  *  *  and 
frankly  discuss  with  us  the  pressing  needs  of  our  country  and  our  city 
and  your  ability  to  meet  those  needs  with  generous  loyalty." 

The  committee  in  charge  reported  that  this  letter  brought  about 
three  hundred  revisions  amounting  to  S40,000  for  the  war  chest. 
Another  letter  of  the  sort  runs. as  follows: 

"In  looking  over  the  monthly  pledge  cards  and  comparing  yours 
with  hundreds  of  others  we  are  impressed  with  the  idea  that  either 
you  were  not  properly  approached  in  the  matter  or  that  you  do  not 
correctly  comprehend  the  supreme  importance  of  the  project. 

"We  need  not  argue  the  necessity  of  sustaining  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  the  Red  Cross.  They  are  recognized  institutions,  more  important 
to  the  moral  and  physical  welfare  of  our  boys  in  khaki  than  any  other 
feature  of  army  life,  and  the  sustaining  of  them  by  each  of  us  in 
proportion  to  our  ability  should  be  considered  a  privilege  as  well  as  a 
duty.*   *   *   It  is*  the  judgment  of  this   committee  that   your  monthly 

contribution  to  the  cause  should  be  $ ,  instead  of  $ ^. 

We  trust  you  will  concur  with  us  in  this.  It  means  much  to  our 
worthy  cause,  to  our  community,  and  to  yourself  as  a  loyal,  patriotic 
citizen. 

"Will  you  therefore  please  sign  the  enclosed  card,  which  will 
cancel  any  former  pledge  of  a  less  amount,  and  promptly  return  it  in 
the   enclosed   stamped   and   addressed   envelope?" 

A  letter  used  in  a  city  which  had  done  careful  rating,  re- 
ferred first  to  the  discrepancy  between  the  quota  assigned  and 
the  subscription  and  went  on  to  say: 

106 


"The  variance  is  so  great  between  the  two  amounts  that  this  com- 
mittee feels  there  must  be  some  misunderstanding  somewhere  for  they 
do  not  believe  that  you  want  to  be  classed  as  one  of  those  not  willing 
to  do  their  share  in  this  conflict.  *  *  *  If  you  still  feel  that  you  cannot 
make  the  pledge  for  the  amount  of  the  quota  we  should  be  very  glad 
to  have  you  meet  the  committee  during  this  week  before  a  decision  is 
made  with  regard  to  the  matter." 

This  letter  brought  very  real  results. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  perhaps  significant  feat- 
ures of  these  various  letters  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
committees  in  charge  frequently  reported  that  the  failure  to 
subscribe  generously  was  due  to  misunderstanding,  or  to  untact- 
ful  solicitation  in  most  cases  rather  than  to  deliberate  intention 
to  evade  responsibility,  and  further  that  in  many  instances  the 
difficulty  was  caused  by  a  failure  of  the  rating  committee, 
which  this  plan  allowed  to  be  set  right  in  a  confidential  fashion, 
thus  avoiding  any  possibility  of  public  humiliation. 

Another  plan  designed  to  increase  subscriptions  has  been 
CO  use  publicity  of  an  appealing  sort.  Some  have  made  a  dis- 
tinct program  of  continuous  publicity  with  regard  to  the  va- 
rious agencies,  their  work,  and  their  appeals,  the  intention  be- 
ing to  arouse  in  the  minds  of  contributors  a  full  realization  of 
the  vital  character  of  the  tasks  undertaken  by  the  war  relief 
agencies  and  to  stimulate  them  through  this  means  to  voluntary 
contributions  without  anv  actual  solicitation. 


107 


CHAPTER  FOUR. 


COLLECTIONS. 

The  question  of  getting  pledges  is  something  less  than  half 
the  battle.  In  the  excitement  of  a  well  organized  campaign  it 
is  in  some  instances  almost  as  difficult  to  restrain  some  individ- 
uals to  their  proper  scale  of  giving  on  a  sacrificial  basis  as  it  is 
to  get  others  to  subscribe.  The  real  key  to  the  success  of  the 
war  chest,  from  the  financial  point  or  view,  comes  in  the  de- 
velopment of  successful  and  relatively  frictionless  methods  of 
collection. 

Industrial  Collections. 

Three  plans  have  been  devised  for  making  collections  from 
industrial  groups.  The  first  is  to  treat  industrial  employees 
simply  as  individual  subscribers  and  ask  them  all  to  make  vol- 
untary payment,  either  at  the  war  chest  office  or  through  the 
bank,  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  those  who  subscribe 
through  the  homes  division.  The  second  method  is  to  treat 
them  as  a  group,  organizing  them  into  clubs  or  associations,  of- 
ten with  some  catchy  name,  which  shall  have  their  own  treas- 
urers through  whom  payments  are  made.  The  third  method 
is  to  lay  emphasis  upon  group  collections  through  employers 
who  are  authorized  to  deduct  the  amount  from  pay  envelopes 
and  turn  in  the  whole  in  one  check  at  stated  intervals.  The 
first  plan  is  followed  in  relatively  few  cities  of  any  large  in- 
dustrial importance.  Perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  is  Salem, 
Mass.,  where  all  payments  from  whatever  source  are  made 
through  one  office.  It  is  probably  too  early  as  yet  to  say  exact- 
ly what  experience  is  going  to  develop  in  this  instance  though 
thus  far  collections  have  been  satisfactory.  Easton,  Pa.,  is  also 
using  this  plan,  all  subscribers,  industrial  as  well  as  others, 
paying  ^t  the  war  chest  headquarters. 

The  most  notable  illustration  of  the  use  of  voluntary  clubs 
or  associations  for  industrial  collections  is  Philadelphia.  In 
that  city  any  plant  with  more  than  twenty  five  employees  organ- 
izes its  own  collection  unit  on  a  voluntary  basis.  A  regular  con- 
stitution for  each  war  chest  society  is  furnished  it  by  the  com- 
mittee in  charge  and  reads  as  follows: 

"This   society  shall  be  known  as   the  War   Chest   Society.     Its   object 

shall  be  to  enroll  every  employee  of as  a  member  of  the 

War  Welfare  Council,  and  to  obtain  from  each  employee  a  pledge  to  con- 
tribute a  certain  sum  per  month  for  a  period  of  one  year,  beginning  July 

108 


1,  1918,  for  the  objects  and  aims  of  the  War  Welfare  Council  of  Philadel- 
phia. Its  further  object  is  to  secure  and  retain  the  house  emblem  for  100 
per  cent,  membership  offered  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  War 
Welfare  Council. 

The  officers  shall  be  a  President,  a  Secretary,  and  a  Treasurer,  who 

shall  be  elected  by  the  employees  of on  or  before  May  18, 

1918. 

The  duties  of  the  President  shall  be  to  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the 
organization  and  to   assume  direct  charge  of  all  its  activities. 

The  duties  of  the  Secretary  shall  be  to  keep  correct  minutes  of  all 
meetings,  to  issue  and  post  such  notices  as  shall  be  necessary  to  further 
the  work  of  the  organization,  and  to  keep  an  accurate  list  of  the  members 
of  and  the  amount  of  their  pledges. 

The  duties  of  the  Treasurer  shall  be  to  keep  an  accurate  duplicate 
record  of  the  Secretary's  list  of  members  and  the  amount  of  their  pledges, 

to  collect  each  month  from  each  member  of  the War  Chest 

Society  the  sum  pledged,  and  to  turn  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Wiar 
Welfare  Council  (Drexel  &  Company,  Fifth  and  Chestnut  Streets)  the  ag- 
gregate of  such  monthly  collections. 

Each  and  every  employee  of is  by  virtue  of  said  em- 
ployment a  member  of  the War  Chest  Society  until  May 

27,  1918,  but  forfeits  said  membership  if  by  that  date  he  has  not  signed  a 
pledge  card  of  the  War  Welfare  Council.     Full  membership  privileges  for 

the  year  ending  June  30,  1919,  attaches  to  each  employee  of  the 

who  is  a  pledged  monthly  contributor  to  the  War  Chest,  and  who  from. 
month  to  month  keeps  in  good  standing  by  making  the  pledged  payments. 

Should  any  one  who  is  on  May  27,  1918,  a  bona-fide  member  of  the 

War  Chest  Society  leave  to  be  identified  with  another 

institution,  he  can  retain  his  membership  in  the _ War  Chest 

Society  by  continuing  his  payments  through  said  Society,  or  if  he  leaves 
to  accept  employment  with  an  institution  where  there  is  a  War  Chest 
Society,  he  may  at  his  option  transfer  his   membership,   and   any  person 

entering  the  employ  of  the during  the  year  ending  June 

30,  1919,  may  become  a  member  of War  Chest  Society 

by  transferring  his  membership  from  some  other  War  Chest  Society,  or  by 

paying  through  the War  Chest  Society  any  amount  he  has 

pledged  to  the  War  Welfare   Council. 

The  responsibility  of  the War  Chest  Society  is  indi- 
vidual, and  not  joint,  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  War  Welfare  Council  for  the 
amount  pledged  by  said  Society. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  organization  through  itS'  officers  to  transmit  to 
the  Treasurer  of  the  War  Welfare  Council  (Drexel  &  Company)  an  accu- 
rate record  of  any  changes  in  membership." 

In  that  city  the  pledge  cards  signed  by  employees  are  kept 
by  the  treasurer  of  the  club,  and  a  club  pledge  card  stating  the 
total  of  individual  pledges  and  the  number  of  subscribers  is 
sent  to  the  war  chest  headquarters.     When  the  amount  which 

109 


is  collected  by  the  treasurer  is  more  or  less  than  the  amount 
which  the  club  is  supposed  to  pay  that  month,  it  is  necessary  that 
a  memorandum  should  accompany  the  payment  to  explain  fully 
the  difference.  If  new  subscriptions  have  been  received  the 
number  of  subscribers  and  total  amount  must  be  stated  in  its 
correct  form.  If  subscribers  have  left  an  effort  should  be  made, 
not  only  to  report  the  decrease  in  number  and  amount,  but  to 
indicate  where  the  person  has  gone  and  send  in  his  individual 
pledge  card. 

Other  cites  employ  similar  plans  to  some  extent,  though 
not  as  their  main  reliance;  for  example,  Columbus,  which  in 
most  instances,  collects  its  industrial  pledges  through  deduction 
from  payroll,  found  that  in  one  or  two  cases  the .  concern  was 
unwilling  to  undertake  the  task  or  the  employees  objected  for 
some  reason.  In  such  cases  the  representatives  of  the  war  chest 
went  to  the  employees,  explained  to  them  the  economy  and  sav- 
ing resulting  from  group  collections  and  the  consequent  increase 
in  the  amount  available  to  help  the  soldiers.  The  result  was 
that  the  employees,  recognizing  the  force  of  this,  selected  an 
individual  as  treasurer  to  whom  they  agreed  to  make  payments. 
Usually  he  was  a  person  of  prestige  among  them,  one  to  whom 
they  looked  for  favors  or  advancement,  and  not  simply  a  person 
of  neither  standing  or  importance.  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  results  of  collection  have  been  surprisingly  good,  indeed 
almost  as  good  as  under  the  plan  of  making  the  deductions  from 
the  payroll.  Meriden  also  has  employed  this  idea  in  certain 
instances  and  Seymour  adopted  this  method  in  some  factories 
where  the  deduction  scheme  could  not  be  installed.  In  many 
cities  there  are  enough  Federal  employees,  so  that  it  is  very 
desirable  to  have  them  grouped  in  units  for  purposes  of  collec- 
tion. The  Government,  however,  will  not  undertake  the  task 
of  making  deductions  from  pay  envelopes.  Dayton,  Ohio,  there- 
fore, organized  these  into  voluntary  collection  units  on  the 
Philadelphia  principle  and  met  with  very  good  success  indeed. 

It  is  very  naturally  better  to  have  a  uniform  and  standard 
plan  of  making  industrial  collections  where  possible,  but  the  idea 
of  making  deductions  from  payrolls  is  one  which  must  be 
definitely  **sold".  It  cannot  be  left  to  inference  or  just  merely 
mentioned.  It  must  be  carefully  explained  to  employee  and 
employer.  The  reasons  must  be  carefully  set  forth,  chief  among 
them  economy,  with  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  the  greater  the 
economy,  the  less  money  will  be  absorbed  in  expenses  and  the 
more  released  for  the  agencies  which  the  war  chest  is  designed 
to  assist.  However,  if  in  a  few  plants  it  is  impossible  to  install 
the  deduction  system,  the  voluntary  association  is  distinctly  the 
next  best  and  should  be  employed. 

Save  for  these  few  instances,  there  is  practical  unanimity 
in  industrial  areas  in  the  system  of  having  collections  made 
through  deductions  from  pay  envelopes. 

110 


Most  cities  have  applied  this  plan  to  factories  and  public 
utilities.  There  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  applied  to 
stores,  public  employees,  mines;  in  short  it  should  be  applied 
to  every  possible  group,  for  example,  to  teachers.  For  special 
groups  of  considerable  size  the  war  chest  can  well  afford  to 
make  extraordinary  provisions.  In  manj^  cities,  for  instance, 
teachers  are  not  paid  twelve  months  in  the  year,  but  only  nine 
months  or  ten  months.  The  deductions  from  their  pay  en- 
velopes should  be  adjusted  on  that  basis  so  that  payments  will 
fall  only  within  the  period  when  salary  is  being  drawn.  Roch- 
ester applied  this  principle  with  large  success. 

In  the  second  place  payments  should  be  allowed  at  the  most 
convenient  period  in  the  month,  for  the  factory  employees  of 
different  plants  are  paid  on  different  days  and  at  different 
intervals.  This  should  be  taken  into  account  since  instead  of 
complicating  the  situation,  as  one  might  suppose  at  first  glance, 
it  serves  instead  to  distribute  work  at  the  war  chest  office  more 
evenly  through  the  month  and  becomes  a  distinct  advantage. 

Many  cities  have  made  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  it  is 
not  worth  while  to  organize  group  collections  for  less  than 
twenty-five  people  and  that  has  been  the  usual  minimum.  The 
experience  of  several  cities,  notably  Columbus,  Ohio,  is  that  it 
is  decidedly  worth  while  to  make  group  collections  from  units 
very  much  smaller  than  twenty-five,  getting  down  in  some  cases 
even  as  low  as  five.  This  plan  reaches  large  numbers  of  people 
and  operates  as  a  substantial  guarantee  against  delinquency, 
simplifies  bookkeeping  and  proves  a  convenience  both  to  the 
individuals  involved  and  to  the  war  chest. 

There  has  been  only  one  city  which  reported  serious  friction 
in  connection  with  the  deduction  method  of  making  collections. 
This  was  a  small  community  with  a  war  chest  which  was  ad- 
mittedly imperfectly  organized,  and  with  one  dominant  industry 
engaged  in  war  work  employing  7000  or  8000  men,  many  of 
whom  are  not  residents  of  the  war  chest  community  but  are 
commuters.  Many  others  are  unskilled  laborers  who  boarded 
in  the  community.  At  the  time  of  the  original  campaign  sub- 
scriptions were  taken  and  the  officers  of  the  factory  agreed  to 
the  deduction  method.  Shortly  afterward  large  numbers  of  the 
employees  were  discharged  pending  a  decision  from  the  Gov- 
ernment as  to  the  type  of  gun  to  be  manufactured  and  for  sev- 
eral months  work  was  slow.  During  this  period  the  factory 
withdrew  its  consent  to  make  deductions  from  the  payroll  and 
refused  also  to  allow  a  re-canvass  of  the  factory  after  new  con- 
tracts had  restored  full-time  activity.  This  case  seems  to  be 
distinctly  an  exception  to  the  general  rule  and  one  for  which 
local  conditions  are  responsible.  It  does  not  seem  that  there  is 
any  reason  to  believe  that  similar  trouble  will  result  in  other 
communities  from  the  adoption  of  the  deduction  plan  of  mak- 
ing collections. 

Ill 


Frequency  of  Deductions. 

Wherever  employees  are  willing  to  authorize  deduction  of 
their  subscriptions  from  their  pay,  the  problem  must  be  faced 
as  to  the  frequency  with  which  such  deductions  shall  be  made. 
Most  cities  which  report  have  weekly  deductions,  several 
monthly  deductions,  a  few  provide  for  both  weekly  and  month- 
ly, giving  an  option  between  them,  and  two  give  the  employee 
free  hand  to  designate  precisely  how  he  wishes  the  deduction 
to  be  made. 

The  wisest  practice  in  this  regard  is  to  have  a  deduction 
made  every  payday  with  one  exception,  which  will  be  dealt  with 
in  a  moment, — thus  it  may  be  monthly,  bi-weekly,  or  weekly. 

The  exception  comes  in  the  case  of  weekly  deductions  and 
rises  from  the  fact  that  there  are  some  months  in  which  five 
paydays  occur.  Inasmuch  as  not  all  factories  pay  on  the  same 
day,  these  months  are  not  uniform  in  any  city.  The  deductions 
in  such  months  should  be  made  only  on  four  paydays,  the  fifth 
having  no  deduction.  This  means  that  there  will  be  forty- 
eight  equal  installments,  four  installments  being  paid  each 
month. 

The  advantage  of  this  plan  is  that  it  distributes  the  bur- 
den as  evenly  as  may  be  possible,  so  that  the  subscriber  does 
not  feel  the  payments  as  severely  as  he  would  if  deductions 
were  made  only  at  infrequent  intervals.  The  objection  to  it  is 
that  it  makes  some  work  for  the  employer,  but  this  can  be  reduced 
to  a  minimum  if  the  installments  are  all  equal  and  if  a  proper 
card  is  provided  on  which  the  paymaster  can  check  the  weeks 
in  which  deductions  are  made. 

The  remittance  from  the  factory  to  the  war  chest  office 
should  be  monthly  and  not  at  each  payday.  This  is  in  order 
that  the  war  chest  may  not  be  given  too  much  bookkeeping  to 
handle.  This  also  furnishes  another  reason  why  the  deduction 
should  be  m.ade  only  four  times  in  the  month  when  there  are 
five  paydays  in  the  month,  namely,  that  otherwise  the  amount 
of  money  to  be  credited  to  any  individual  subscriber  would  vary 
from  month  to  month  and  make  more  elaborate  bookkeeping 
requisite. 

The  only  disadvantage  associated  with  this  monthly  remit- 
tance, weekly  deduction  program  is  that  a  man  may  be  partly 
delinquent  in  some  month.  For  example,  if  he  should  leave 
the  employ  of  the  factory  after  two  weeks  of  the  current  month, 
or  if  he  were  out  sick  for  a  week,  etc.  This  would  necessitate 
sorne  slight  complication  of  the  bookkeeping  in  the  war  chest 
office  in  posting  to  his  account  but  does  not  make  much  extra 
work  for  the  employer,  save  as  he  has  to  make  a  memorandum 
to  the  war  chest  office  and  a  memorandum  to  deduct  an  extra 
amount  at  the  next  time. 

112 


In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  point  out  that  many 
cities  have  adopted  the  plan  of  having  factories  remit  at  differ- 
ent times  through  the  month  in  order  to  distribute  the  labor 
involved  in  bookkeeping  evenly. 

Patriotic  Half-Hour. 

Kenosha,  Wisconsin,  developed  the  plan  of  taking  sub- 
scriptions- on  the  basis  of  what  a  man  earned  in  half  an  hour 
and  then  using  a  designated  half-hour  each  week  as  a  means 
of  keeping  alive  interest  in  the  war  chest  and  expressing  the 
determination  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  to  support  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  On  Wednesday  of  every 
week  the  half -hour  from  11.30  a.  m.  until  noon  is  set  aside  by 
proclamation  of  the  mayor  as  the  period  when  Kenosha  is  work- 
ing for  the  soldiers  and  sailors.  Factory  whistles  announce  its 
commencement  and  appropriate  exercises  are  held  regularly 
in  the  schools  at  that  time. 

After  somewhat  more  than  six  months  operation,  Kenosha 
reports  that  this  feature  of  the  war  chest  has  been  a  very  de- 
cided success  and  has  served  as  a  constant  stimulus  to  patriotism 
as  well  as  to  payments.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  payments 
on  the  industrial  side  are  made  more  cheerfully  and  on  the  vol- 
untary side  are  made  more  regularly  if  there  is  no  let-up  in  the 
educative  campaign.  This  plan  has  been  followed  by  a  number 
of  cities,  among  them  Attleboro,  Mass.,  Burlington,  Iowa,  and 
Elgin,  111. 

Some  cities  use  a  patriotic  hour  instead  of  half-hour,  the 
reason  being  that  the  half -hour  represents  1%  of  the  average 
individuals  w^ages,  which  is  thought  by  some  to  be  an  inadequate 
amount,  and  they  use,  therefore,  an  hour  which  represents  2%. 
The  principle  is  the  same  in  either  case  and  the  idea  is  equally 
applicable. 

The  employment  of  this  plan  of  having  men  subscribe  the 
wages  earned  in  a  patriotic  hour  or  half-hour  immediately  raises 
the  question  as  to  precisely  how  those  earnings  are  to  be  figured, 
whether  it  is  to  be  taken  literally  and  figured  down  to  the  last 
odd  cent,  or  whether  in  order  to  simplify  bookkeeping  an  even 
amount  is  chosen;  whether,  if  a  man  w^orks  on  piecework,  he 
is  to  give  the  amount  he  earns  in  that  specific  half-hour  or  an 
average  half-hour.  Practically  all  of  the  cities  figure  what 
a  man  makes  in  the  average  half-hour,  not  in  the  specific  one 
which  is  set  aside.  Some  carry  it  even  further  and  figure  the 
monthly  average. 

There  is  the  disadvantage  in  this  plan  that  a  man's  pledge 
is  not  for  a  uniform  amount.  When  he  works  on  piecework, 
his  w^ages  will  vary  from  week  to  week  and  his  pledge  as  well, 
thus  it  will  bring  in  a  few  cents  more  one  month  or  a  few  cents 
less.  In  like  manner  if  he  is  working  for  a  fixed  wage  and 
receives  a  raise,  this  brings  an  alteration  in  the  amount  of  his 

113 


pledge.  These  circumstances  make  it  practically  impossible  for 
the  war  chest  office  to  keep  separate  accounts  for  these  men. 
It  becomes  necessary,  if  this  plan  is  used,  to  carry  an  account 
simply  for  the  factory  and  to  depend  upon  the  carbon  of  the 
factory  receipt  in  order  to  check  the  total  which  the  factory 
returns  to  the  war  chest. 

This  is  the  more  true  because  what  actually  happens  is  that 
the  factories  deduct  each  payday.  The  factories  have  different 
paydays  and  so  the  five-payment  months  are  different  in  the 
different  factories.  For  the  war  chest  office  to  attempt  to 
follow  this  in  each  factory  and  keep  record  of  individual  ac- 
counts of  the  subscribers  would  involve  an  amount  of  book- 
keeping that  is  practically  prohibitive  in  some  cases. 

Occasionally  when  a  time  basis  is  used,  the  subscription  is 
worked  out  in  overtime  effort.  This  cannot,  however,  be  made 
in  most  cases  a  war  chest  policy,  because  certain  unions  will 
not  permit  it  and  because  some  factories  are  not  in  a  position 
to  use  overtime  labor  now. 

The  conclusion  which  one  comes  to,  after  study  of  the 
material  submitted  by  cities  using  this  plan,  is  that,  in  the  first 
place,  it  is  satisfactory  to  those  communities  which  use  it  and 
that  in  the  second  place,  it  does  have  large  educative  and  patriot- 
ic effect.  The  difficulties  have  been  emphasized  because  if 
they  are  foreseen,  careful  planning  may  obviate  them.  The  im- 
portant point  is  to  make  certain  that  if  this  plan  is  followed, 
no  feature,  whether  of  bookkeeping  or  other  detail,  is  intro- 
duced which  is  inconsistent  with  it. 

Labor  Turn-over — The  problem  of  taking  care  of  labor 
turn-over  is  one  which  has  been  given  a  good  deal  of  careful  at- 
tention by  officials  in  charge  of  war  chests  and  a  number  of 
plans  have  been  developed  for  obviating  the  difficulties  that 
arise  from  changes  in  the  personnel  of  establishments. 

It  is  possible  to  overestimate  the  importance  of  labor  turn- 
over just  as  it  is  possible  to  underestimate  the  importance  of 
this  question.  As  one  glances  at  statistics  of  factories  and 
notices  a  turn-over  of  fifty  or  even  one  hundred  per  cent,  it 
seems  off-hand  that  the  method  of  taking  care  of  labor  turn- 
over, especially  in  view  of  the  large  number  of  employees  who 
subscribe,  would  become  the  most  vital  feature  of  a  war  chest, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  problem  of  such  complexity  as  to  be 
almost  insoluble.  As  a  matter  of  fact  these  statistics  give  a 
false  impression.  Perhaps  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  employees  of 
most  well-regulated  establishments  are  stable.  It  is  the  other 
twenty  per  cent,  which  turns  over  and  over  and  produces  the 
large  aggregate  percentage.  Moreover  the  twenty  per  cent,  (a 
factor  which  is  extremely  rough  and  selected  simply  for  con- 
venience) is  that  portion  which  gives  the  smallest  amount  of 
money,  because  the  turn-over  is  more  rapid  among  the  unskilled 
help  whose  contributions  are  not  large  relative  to  the  total. 

114 


The  experience  of  Syracuse  illustrates  this  point.  The  war 
chest  did  not  develop  in  its  first  year  of  operation  a  complete 
or  thorough  scheme  for  taking  care  of  labor  turn-over  and  there 
was  in  consequence  a  shrinkage  from  this  cause  which  amount- 
ed to  about  15%. 

Now,  however,  a  number  of  plans  have  been  elaborated. 
The  most  drastic  is  that  which  was  developed  in  Youngstown, 
Ohio.  When  a  man  gives  notice  that  he  is  to  leave  the  mill 
the  total  unpaid  remainder  of  his  pledge  is  deducted  from  his 
last  pay  envelope  so  that  when  he  reaches  his  new  employment 
his  account  has  been  settled  for  the  year.  This  plan  appears 
to  be  one  which  is  likely  to  be  effective  but  it  seems  doubtful 
whether  it  will  prove  popular  Avith  the  givers  and  whether  it 
will  engender  good  feeling  for  the  inevitable  campaign  the  next 
year. 

The  second  method  has  been  worked  out  in  Detroit.  In- 
stead of  attempting  to  follow  the  individual  contributor  from 
one  industrial  concern  to  another  through  the  office  of  the  pa- 
triotic fund,  each  factory  has  been  asked  to  underwrite  the  sub- 
scriptions of  all  its  employees.  Thus  w^hen  one  man  leaves  the 
factory  and  is  replaced  by  another  it  becomes  to  the  interests  of 
factory  to  solicit  the  newcomer.  Otherwise  it  has  to  meet  the 
payments  on  the  pledge  of  his  predecessor.  This  method,  which 
is  extremely  simple,  reduces  the  amount  of  bookkeeping  which 
the  war  chest  has  to  handle  and  precludes  all  necessity  for  any 
elaborate  and  more  or  less  expensive  scheme  for  following  work- 
ers from  one  employment  to  another.  It  has  been  applied  to 
about  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  factory  subscriptions,  the  other 
twenty  per  cent,  being  employed  for  the  most  part  in  small  con- 
cerns where  labor  turn-over  is  not  great  and  has  not,  in  conse- 
quence, so  important  a  bearing.  Under  this  plan  the  factory 
does  not  lose  a  great  deal  if  it  maintains  its  organization  for 
solicitation,  and  what  it  does  lose  is  more  than  made  up  to  it 
from  the  fact  that  the  corporations,  as  in  Detroit,  are  not  asked 
for  subscriptions  as  such,  though  individual  members  of  the 
firm  are  asked  to  make  personal  contributions. 

The  third  method  is  the  one  which  is  employed  in  Torring- 
ton.  Under  the  plan  in  operation  there  virtually  no  effort  of  a 
serious  character  is  made  to  transfer  a  man's  pledge  when  he 
changes  from  one  employer  to  another.  Instead  the  entire  em- 
phasis is  put  upon  obtaining  a  subscription  from  each  person 
who  is  hired — that  is,  to  maintain  each  factory  100^;'  su})scribed 
to  the  war  chest.  The  employment  manager  in  the  chief  con- 
cern in  talking  with  new  men  asks  them  if  they  are  willing  to 
sign  pledge  cards,  but  does  not  ask  for  signatures,  though  he 
does  pass  them  some  of  the  explanatory  pamphlets.  When  a 
man  goes  to  work  the  foreman  of  the  department  promptly  ap- 
proaches him  with  a  pledge  card.  This  does  not  mean  that  a 
man  will  not  be  hired  if  he  does  not  express  his  willingness  to 

115 


sign,  but  it  does  mean  that  he  will  have  had  time  to  think  it 
over  and  will  understand  the  situation  so  that  he  will  know  what 
the  solicitation  is  about  when  he  is  approached.  Experience 
under  this  plan  has  been  satisfactory.  The  largest  concern  in 
the  city  had  a  100%  subscription  at  the  time  of  the  war  chest 
campaign  and  at  present  (August  14,  1918)  is  still  100%  sub- 
scribed despite  a  considerable  labor  turn-over.  Other  concerns 
are  doing  as  well.  The  net  result  is  an  inexpensive  and  yet  very 
efficient  method  of  caring  for  this  problem.  Inasmuch  as  the 
war  chest  office  does  not  carry  a  separate  account  for  every 
individual  subscriber  but  has  a  ledger  account  for  each  factory 
only,  the  cancellation  of  pledges  of  those  who  leave  the  employ 
of  the  factory  does  not  unduly  complicate  bookkeeping. 

The  fourth  method,  like  the  third,  is  applicable  to  cities 
which  do  not  carry  a  separate  ledger  account  for  each  of  the 
industrial  subscribers  but  simply  one  account  for  each  factory 
or  other  unit.  Under  this  system  the  treasurer  has  forms  for 
a  transfer  list.  The  factory  reports  on  these  forms  those  who 
are  leaving  and  sends  in  to  the  war  chest  the  card  authorizing 
the  employer  to  deduct  the  amount  of  the  subscription  and  on 
the  back  of  which  is  a  ledger  statement  of  the  account.  When 
that  authorization  card  reaches  the  war  chest  office  it  is  put  in 
a  transfer  drawer  and  the  reports  of  factories  are  scrutinized 
for  the  appearance  of  the  name  on  some  list  of  incoming  em- 
ployees. If  the  name  fails  to  appear  on  the  incoming  lists  a 
form  letter  is  sent.  Utica,  N.  Y.,  sent  a  form  letter  which 
read: 

"We  have  been  advised  by  the Company  that  you 

have  left  its  employ,  and  as  payments  to  the  War  Chest  Fund  are  now 
due,  we  would  thank  you  to  advise  us  as  to  the  manner  in  which  you 
desire  to  continue  payments.  For  your  information  they  may  be  made 
in  the  following  manner:  deducted  from  your  wages  by  your  present 
employer  in  accordance  with  the  authorization  card  signed  by  you. 
If  you  wish  this  method  followed,  kindly  advise  us  the  name  of  your 
present  employer. 

"Payments  may  also  be  made  monthly,  quarterly,  or  semi-annually 
in  advance  at  the  office  of  the  War  Chest  Association. 

"Please  refer  to  this  letter  when  you  write  and  bring  it  with  you 
when  you  call." 

In  other  cities  a  member  of  the  permanent  campaign  organiza- 
tion or  one  of  the  Boy  Scouts  was  sent  to  the  home  address  to 
ask  the  new  place  of  employment.  When  that  is  ascertained 
either  through  the  letter  or  through  the  messenger,  the  authori- 
zation card  is  sent  to  the  new  employer,  who  may  deduct  for 
any  period  which  is  in  arrears  from  the  first  or  second  pay 
envelope. 

The  fifth  method  is  virtually  the  same  and  is  used  in  cities 
which  carry  a  separate  ledger  account  for  each  subscriber.     In  , 

116 


Rochester,  for  example,  the  ledger  cards  are  filed  in  the  same 
order  in  which  the  factory  reports  payment,  and  each  month 
when  the  factory  payment  comes  in  there  appears  a  list  of 
those  who  have  left  its  employ.  The  ledger  cards  of  those  men 
are  withdrawn  from  the  classified  file  and  put  in  a  transfer  or 
tracer  drawer.  These  are  checked  over  with  the  incoming  lists 
from  other  factories  and  sorted  into  their  proper  places  in  the 
file. 

In  Columbus,  Dayton,  and  certain  other  cities  there  are 
regularly  organized  investigation  departments,  usually  with 
paid  employees  who  attempt  to  follow  those  who  disappear  from 
their  previous  places  of  employment.  In  this  case  an  investi- 
gation slip  is  made  up  from  the  data  available  on  the  pledge  card 
and  the  outgoing  list  sent  by  the  factory.  The  slip  is  then 
given  to  a  paid  investigator  for  report.  Indianapolis  made  an 
arrangement  Avith  one  of  the  local  newspapers  by  which  its 
•district  circulation  managers  act  as  the  investigators  for  the 
war  chest.  This  gives  them  an  available  force  of  thirty  inves- 
tigators at  a  cost  of  less  than  $300.00  a  month. 

Occasionally  cities  have  adopted  the  plan  of  putting  on  a 
list  the  names  of  those  who  appear  on  the  records  as  leaving 
and  making  a  corresponding  list  for  those  who  appear  on  the 
records  as  new  employees.  It  is  far  better  to  do  this  with  a 
card  system,  for  then  when  a  man  is  traced  his  card  can  be 
withdrawn  and  there  will  be  no  crossing  out  or  checking,  which 
makes  it  necessary  to  write  his  name  in  again,  and  the  list  will 
not  become  clumsy. 

Statistics  as  to  the  actual  importance  of  labor  turn-over 
and  the  success  attained  in  dealing  with  it  are  very  difficult  to 
secure.  Indianapolis  reports  that  in  forty-five  days  three  thous- 
and employees  changed  their  places  of  employment  without  ad- 
vising their  former  employers  where  they  were  going  and  with- 
out appearing  on  any  incoming  lists  promptly.  These  men 
were  at  first  sent  letters  asking  them  to  fill  out  return  post 
cards  stating  their  present  places  of  employment.  This  took 
care  of  most  of  them.  The  small  percentage  remaining  were 
turned  over  to  the  investigators  and  most  of  them  appear  to 
have  been  found.  In  Utica,  a  city  of  80,000  population,  there 
were  about  4,500  cases  which  had  to  be  traced  between  the  15th 
of  February  and  the  15th  of  June.  3,000  of  these  were  found 
without  much  difficulty.  The  others  had  entered  the  service 
or  left  town,  or  had  moved  as  well  as  changed  employment,  and 
could  not  be  readily  traced.  Columbus  repoi'ts  that  it  has  been 
possible  to  trace  practically  all  cases  and  they  have  resolved 
themselves  into  four  classes:  first,  those  who  have  entered  the 
service  and  whose  pledges  are  cancelled :  second,  those  who  have 
left  town  and  whose  pledges  are  cancelled ;  third,  those  who  from 
illness  or  other  circumstances  are  temporarily  unemployed  and 

117 


who  will  have  to  be  followed  up  again;  and,  fourth,  the  large 
majority  who  have  been  placed  and  are  now  making  their  pay- 
ments through  their  new  employers. 

Labor  Unions — The  use  of  labor  unions  for  collection  has 
been  more  or  less  restricted,  the  cities  which  employ  this  meth- 
od being  in  a  distinct  minority.  For  the  most  part  its  use  has 
been  developed  in  the  seasonal  trades,  such  as  carpentry,  brick- 
laying, etc.,  particularly  where  a  workman  is  not  regularly  con- 
nected with  one  employer.  The  unions  in  such  cases  make  the 
collections  and  transmit  in  one  check.  Cities  which  have  em- 
ployed this  method  are  Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  Butte,  Mont.,  De- 
troit, Mich.,  Kenosha  and  Racine,  Wis.,  Roanoke,  Va.,  in  one 
case,  and  Sheboygan,  Wis. 

This  is  a  method  which  in  such  trades  is  valuable  because 
of  the  fact  that  there  is  such  a  very  large  amount  of  labor  turn- 
over, which  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  follow.  Of  course 
the  collection  through  the  union  obviates  the  necessity  for  fol- 
lowing men  from  one  employer  to  another. 

The  one  drawback  to  using  this  plan  in  practice,  though  not 
in  principle,  is  that  the  labor  unions  have  usually  not  taken  real 
subscriptions  but  have  levied  assessments,  which  has  a  tendency 
to  destroy  to  some  degree  at  least  the  gift  character  of  contri- 
butions. 

Personal  Collections. 

Collections  by  Solicitors — The  question  whether  solicitors 
should  make  collections  in  conjunction  with  their  work  of  taking 
subscriptions  is  one  which  has  had  a  good  deal  of  attention. 
The  argument  in  favor  of  the  practice  is  that  is  has  a  tendency 
to  make  the  person  subscribing  have  a  sense  of  the  reality  of 
his  pledge  if  he  makes  a  payment  along  with  it  and  that  it 
serves  as  a  demonstration  of  sincerity.  The  argument  against 
having  the  solicitor  make  the  collection  is  partly  practical  and 
partly  psychological.  The  practical  objection  comes  from  the 
fact  that  in  the  great  rush  of  handling  thousands  of  subscrip- 
tions in  one  week  through  voluntary  and  unskilled  help  there 
are  certain  to  be  a  great  many  errors  in  accounting  if  the  prac- 
tice of  allowing  solicitors  to  make  collections  is  adopted.  In 
one  concrete  instance  a  much  over-burdened  treasurer  was  of- 
fered the  assistance  of  a  group  of  business  men  who  agTeed  to 
take  care  of  the  money  attached  to  about  a  thousand  pledge 
cards.  They  made  up  the  bank  deposits  but  neglected  the  detail 
of  posting  the  payments  to  the  accounts  of  the  subscribers.  It 
took  a  great  deal  of  detective  work  on  the  part  of  the  treasurer 
to  find  out  who  had  made  payments  because  the  solicitors  who 
had  done  the  collecting  were  not  always  careful  to  write  up  on 
the  card  or,  if  they  did,  to  indicate  how  much  had  been  paid, 
contenting  themselves  simply  with  fastening  the  money  to  the 
card. 

118 


The  psychological  argument  arises  from  the  fact  that  peo- 
ple are  very  wary  about  giving  money  to  strangers.  In  the  heat 
of  a  campaign,  particularly  in  a  city  of  some  size  where  from 
three  to  five  thousand  solicitors  are  mobilized,  it  is  difficult  to 
make  certain  that  there  are  no  impostors,  and  the  public,  aware 
of  that  fact,  hesitates  to  pay  in  some  cases.  This  argument  is 
one  of  some  force,  but  not  decisive  because  almost  always  an 
option  is  given  in  the  matter  of  payment,  so  that  those  who  do 
not  care  to  make  payment  need  not. 

Wherever  solicitors  are  authorized  to  take  money  the  great- 
est care  should  be  used  to  have  the  solicitor  identified  with  a 
suitable  badge  which  is  numbered,  registered,  and  readily  rec- 
ognizable. In  the  second  place,  the  solicitor  should  give  not  a 
permanent  receipt  but  simply  a  temporary  receipt  which  can 
be  turned  in  for  the  first  payment  when  due  and  which  should 
be  made  out  in  triplicate,  the  subscriber  getting  the  original, 
the  war  chest  the  first  copy,  and  the  solicitor  the  second  copy 
to  produce  in  case  a  question  should  arise  later.  Every  solicitor 
should  have  strongly  impressed  upon  him  that  he  must  leave  a 
receipt  whether  the  person  desires  one  or  not. 

Cleveland  took  pains  to  have  two  cards  to  which  money 
could  be  attached,  a  yellow  card  and  a  blue  card.  The  yellow 
card  was  used  to  record  money  v^^hich  was  paid  on  a  pledge 
previously  turned  in:  the  blue  card  was  used  for  money  turned 
in  with  the  pledge,  a  distinction  which  is  important  in  avoiding 
duplication  in  the  auditor's  office  and  consequently  complicat- 
ing a  situation  which  is  not  easy  to  deal  with  under  the  very 
best  of  circumstances.  Another  city  developed  a  plan  which, 
if  collection  by  solicitors  are  allowed,  should  be  followed.  Each 
solicitor  was  given  a  number  of  good,  stout  manilla  envelopes 
sufficiently  large  to  contain  the  pledge  card  without  folding. 
Each  cash  payment  was  to  be  enclosed  with  the  pledge  card  and 
a  carbon  copy  of  the  receipt  in  a  separate  envelope  and  sealed. 
There  was  a  space  on  the  outside  on  which  to  note  exactly  what 
was  included.  The  advantages  of  this  were  that  there  was  no 
danger  of  the  pledge  card  and  the  money  being  separated.  All 
too  frequently  when  they  are  pinned  or  clipped  together  they 
become  loosened  in  the  shuffle  and  difficulty  arises.  This 
plan  also  made  it  possible  for  the  auditor's  office  when  rushed 
to  lay  these  envelopes  aside  for  a  few  days  since  there  was  no 
particular  danger  of  their  becoming  dishevelled. 

A  number  of  cities,  notably  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  absolutely 
prohibited  the  collection  of  any  money  by  solicitors,  allowing 
only  pledges  to  come  in  during  the  week  of  the  campaign. 

The  conclusion  which  a  survey  of  the  practices  of  cities 
with  comments  on  results  induces  is  that  the  collection  of  money 
by  solicitors  is  undesirable.  The  bookkeeping  problems  in- 
volved in  the  war  chest  are  sufficiently  serious  so  that  the 
treasurer's  office  should  be  relieved  of  as  much  pressure  as 

119 


possible  at  the  beginning  of  its  work.  To  make  out  ledger  ac- 
counts for  several  thousand  people  and  start  a  set  of  books 
and  at  the  same  time  to  have  to  take  in  a  great  deal  of  money 
and  credit  it  to  accounts  which  have  not  yet  been  set  up,  is  an 
extraordinarily  difficult  thing  to  do  with  accuracy.  Personal 
observation  in  several  war  chest  offices  and  the  earnest  advice 
of  office  managers  have  impressed  this  upon  me  forcibly.  It  is 
perhaps  not  wholly  wise,  on  the  other  hand,  to  prohibit  collec- 
tions absolutely,  though  it  is  well  worth  while  to  discourage 
payments  at  the  time  of  giving  the  pledge. 

Centralized  Collections — Some  war  chest  cities  have  made 
an  effort  to  make  all  collections  through  one  office.  For  ex- 
ample, Burlington,  Iowa,  has  ''them  call  at  the  office  as  a  pa- 
triotic duty"  and  made  a  feature  of  that  practice.  Carlo,  111., 
at  first  attempted  to  have  payments  made  through  the  various 
banks.  For  some  reason  the  plan  did  not  work  out  and  all  now 
pay  directly  to  the  office  of  the  war  chest.  The  same  plan  is 
used  in  Cumberland,  Md.,  Dayton,  0.,  Glens  Falls,  Herkimer, 
Hinckley,  Lockport,  and  Newark,  N.  Y.,  Meriden,  Racine,  Wis.. 
Savannah,  Ga.,  Salem,  Mass.,  and  others.  Lansing,  Mich.,  uses 
a  centralized  plan  of  collection  so  far  as  city  pledges  are  con- 
cerned, but  the  county  divisions  each  take  care  of  their  own 
local  collections  and  the  work  is  to  that  extent  decentralized. 

The  most  interesting  case  of  those  making  centralized  col- 
lections is  that  of  Salem,  Mass.,  where  all  payments  are  made  at 
one  office,  there  being  no  effort  to  have  a  separate  industrial 
collection  and  no  system  of  unit  or  group  collection  of  any  sort. 
Every  subscriber — and  there  are  about  ten  thousand  of  them — 
is  expected  to  call  once  a  month  at  the  centrally  located  war 
chest  office  in  order  to  make  his  payments. 

Ely,  Minn.,  has  selected  the  city  treasurer  as  the  war  chest 
treasurer  and  the  citizens  pay  their  light  and  water  bills  and  war 
chest  subscriptions  to  the  same  person  at  the  same  time. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  almost  all  these  cases  of 
centralized  collection  not  all  subscribers  pay  in  person.  Ordi- 
narily the  great  mass  of  subscribers  pay  through  their  employ- 
ers or  through  their  banks  by  means  of  bank  drafts,  or  through 
their  unions,  so  that  the  actual  number  of  subscribers  who  are 
expected  to  call  at  the  central  office  is  normally  not  over  30% 
of  the  total  and  very  frequently  runs  very  much  lower  than 
that  figure. 

The  advisability  of  using  one  central  office  for  making 
collections  depends  of  course  upon  the  question  of  the  area 
which  the  war  chest  covers  and  also  upon  the  number  of  sub- 
scribers who  are  to  pay  directly. 

Decentralized  Collections — Other  cities  have  worked  out 
plans  for  decentralizing  collections  in  order  to  make  it  as  con- 
venient as  possible  for  subscribers.  Ordinarily  this  is  done 
through  the  use  of  banks,  but  occasionally  also  stores  or  even 

120 


individuals  are  employed.  The  .plan  has  been  worked  out  on 
what  appears  to  be  the  largest  scale  in  the  city  of  Detroit. 
The  patriotic  fund  there  has  640  collection  agencies  which  are 
designated  to  the  public  through  newspaper  advertisements  and 
by  large  signs  hung  in  the  windows.  Practically  all  drug  stores 
are  payment  offices.  This  body  of  collection  agencies  is  sup- 
posed to  reach  about  100,000  people,  whose  aggregate  gifts 
amounts  to  $2,500,000.  These  collection  agencies  have  a  tripli- 
cate receipt,  the  original  of  which  goes  to  the  subscriber,  the 
first  copy  to  the  war  chest  headquarters,  and  the  second  remains 
with  the  collection  agent.  They  are  properly  numbered,  so 
that  while  this  plan  makes  somewhat  more  bookkeeping  in  the 
aggregate  it  does  not  make  more  for  the  central  office.  Rather 
it  makes  it  possible  to  spread  the  work  out  in  that  office  much 
more  satisfactorily.  At  Terre  Haute  likewise  this  plan  was 
developed  and  there  are  130  authorized  pay  stations  which  in- 
clude many  local  banks  as  well  as  many  stores.  A  number  of 
cities  have  adopted  the  plan  of  having  all  agencies  which  make 
collections  for  the  gas  company  and  electric  light  company 
receive  payments  on  the  ground  that  people  visit  those  compan- 
ies once  a  month  in  any  case  and  thus  payment  to  the  war  chest 
is  made  as  convenient  as  possible. 

Philadelphia  because  of  the  great  area  involved  in  its  war 
chest  plan  had  to  develop  some  such  scheme.  It  has  confined 
itself  however  to  banks.  All  banks  both  national  and  state  are 
authorized  to  make  collection.  They  are  known  at  war  chest 
headquarters  by  their  American  Banking  Association  number 
and  send  in  records  of  payments  but  keep  the  money  on  deposit 
until  it  is  withdrawn  by  the  treasurer. 

In  the  case  of  collections  made  through  banks  the  common 
practice  is  to  allow  the  bank  to  keep  on  deposit  the  money  which 
is  paid  in  until  it  is  needed  by  the  treasurer.  This  makes  pos- 
sible a  distribution  of  the  funds  among  the  banks.  In  general, 
of  course,  a  person  pays  his  war  chest  subscription  at  his  own 
bank  and  this  keeps  the  funds  stable.  One  city  adopted  the 
plan  of  depositing  with  each  bank  the  checks  drawn  upon  it  in 
order  to  distribute  the  funds  equitably.  The  only  dissatisfac- 
tion that  has  resulted  from  the  employment  of  banks  as  collec- 
tion agencies  comes  from  the  fact  that  banking  hours  being 
short  they  are  not  always  wholly  convenient  for  subscribers. 
Beyond  that  there  has  been  no  complaint  of  any  sort  save  in 
one  case,  where  for  some  reason  unexplained  the  collection 
through  the  banks  broke  down  and  centralized  collections  was 
substituted  successfully. 

Cities  which  have  adopted  a  decentralized  method  of  col- 
lection are  Adrian,  Albany,  Albion,  Attleboro,  Ashland,  Billings, 
Brattleboro,  Dayton,  Elkhart,  Granville,  Lo\\^ille,  Melrose, 
Michigan  City,  Mitchell,  Moline,  Northampton,  Nutley,  Sheboy- 
gan, Vevay,  Warren,  Westfield,  and  others. 

121 


Methods  of  Paywtent — Wtere  payments  are  made  at  the 
war  chest  office  or  at  banks,  there  has  to  be  developed  some 
routine  for  handling  them. 

In  Syracuse  the  subscriber  went  to  the  cashier's  window, 
dictated  his  name  and  address,  which  were  written  down  by  the 
cashier  who  then  accepted  payment.  A  good  many  cities  follow 
this  practice  because  they  believe  that  numbers  of  those  who 
pay  in  the  voluntary  list  are  not  accustomed  to  carrying  bank 
accounts  and  do  not  fill  out  accurately  their  payment  slips. 

A  number  of  other  cities,  on  the  other  hand,  make  use  of 
a  payment  slip,  or  deposit  slip,  like  a  bank  deposit  slip  and  they 
report  that  slips  which  are  filled  out  inaccurately  can  be  return- 
ed for  correction  or  can  be  corrected  by  the  cashier  and  that 
the  number  of  mistakes  is  not  so  great  that  it  warrants  them 
in  adopting  the  slower  method  of  having  the  cashier  make  out 
slips.  Such  cities,  therefore,  have  a  regular  deposit  slip,  oc- 
casionally with  a  coupon  attached  which  the  subscriber  makes 
out  also  and  which  is  then  stamped  by  the  cashier  and  returned 
as  a  receipt.  Terre  Haute  used  a  deposit  slip  which  took  a  car- 
bon copy,  the  carbon  being  stamped  by  the  cashier  as  a  receipt, 
the  original  being  retained  at  the  war  chest  office. 

At  Tarrytown  the  subscriber  brings  in  a  certificate  of 
enlistment  which  is  marked  off  with  spaces  for  months  from 
May  1918  to  December  1920  and  there  is  a  stamp  which  is  put 
in  the  monthly  space  which  reads  ''received  dues  for  this  month 
on  the  number  of  memberships  indicated,"  the  number  of  mem- 
berships at  $1.00  a  month  being  permanently  entered  at  the  top 
of  the  certificate. 

Salem,  Mass.,  and  Philadelphia  have  developed  systems  of 
numbered  coupons.  In  Salem  tv/elve  coupons  bearing  identical 
numbers  at  top  and  bottom  were  sent  to  each  subscriber  in  an 
envelope.  On  making  payments  one  of  these  coupons  must  be 
properly  made  out  and  presented  with  the  money.  In  case  of 
failure  to  bring  the  proper  coupon,  there  is  available  on  the 
counter  a  coupon  of  distinctive  color  upon  which  the  subscriber's 
number  is  entered  by  the  clerk  who  ascertains  it  from  an  alpha- 
betical file.  This  system  appeared  to  work  out  very  well  and 
the  number  of  people  who  failed  to  bring  their  slips  was  rela- 
tively few. 

Philadelphia's  system  was  somewhat  similiar.  The  cou- 
pons were  made  up  into  a  book,  the  cover  and  first  two  sheets 
being  of  sufficiently  thin  material  that  they  could  be  typed  at 
one  operation  with  use  of  carbon.  The  cover  bears  the  name  of 
the  subscriber,  the  number  of  his  division,  his  individual  number 
within  the  division,  as  well  as  his  address.  This  identifies  the 
book  if  it  is  lost  and  provision  is  made  for  its  return  to  the  war 
chest  office  by  any  finder.  The  first  carbon  is  a  ledger  card, 
the  second  is  a  card  to  be  used  for  follow-up  purposes;  the  suc- 
ceeding coupons  are  numbered  identically  and  serially  so  that 

122 


even  if  an  individual  neglected  to  write  his  name  or  the  month 
of  payment,  these  could  readily  be  ascertained.  The  bank  simp- 
ly stamps  a  receipt  on  the  stub  and  forwards  the  coupon  to  the 
war  chest  office,  keeping  the  money  on  deposit  until  drawn  by 
the  treasurer. 

It  is  felt  by  cities  which  employ  this  device  that  it  has  good 
psychological  value  and  that  it  indicates  the  importance  of  the 
matter.  It  is  believed  also  that  in  Philadelphia  the  division 
into  districts  is  going  to  allow  the  war  chest  officials  to  keep 
track  of  how  various  groups  of  subscribers  meet  their  obliga- 
tions and  to  determine  where  shrinkage  comes.  Thus  they  will 
have  a  good  index  as  to  whether  the  organization  which  handled 
that  group  fell  down  in  its  selling  program  or  is  falling  down 
in  its  follow-up  program.  The  idea  is  that  it  will  enable  the 
central  council  to  detemiine  accurately  where  failure  develops 
and  so  trace  it  down  and  remedy  it. 

Some  cities  have  employed  as  reminder  for  collection  pur- 
poses a  monitor  which  has  become  standardized  as  a  commercial 
proposition.  It  consists  of  a  calendar  with  twelve  coupons  each 
with  space  to  indicate  the  date  and  number  of  payment.  When 
a  person  wishes  to  make  payment,  he  clips  the  proper  coupon 
and  sends  or  takes  it  with  his  money  to  the  war  chest.  When 
the  coupon  is  clipped,  it  discloses  beneath  a  conspicuous  sign 
which  reads  ''My  pledge  for  the  month  of  June  is  paid."  No 
city  has  yet  reported  how  well  the  scheme  works  out.  At  first 
glance  it  would  seem  that  people  who  fall  delinquent  would  re- 
move the  calendar  from  the  wall. 

Experience  With  Voluntary  Payments. 

It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  the  critical  point  in  the  matter 
of  collections  comes  with  regard  to  that  portion  which  is  paid 
by  individuals  either  at  the  war  chest  office  or  through  some 
collection  agency.  A  question  as  to  the  success  met  with  in 
regard  to  voluntary  paymicnts  brought  a  response  from  most 
of  the  cities.  The  great  majority  wrote  the  word  ^simply 
''good",  Burlington,  Iowa,  says  "very  good",  Elgin,  111.,  "excel- 
lent", Kenosha,  Wis.,  "99.99^  0.  K.",  Michigan  City  "the  real 
thing",  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  found  that  there  was  apparently  to  be 
a  large  shrinkage  in  the  case  of  voluntary  payments.  Analysis 
showed,  however,  that  it  was  due  to  deaths,  enlistments,  remov- 
als, and  failure  to  organize  a  proper  system  of  industrial  col- 
lection. They  believe  that  the  money  from  the  remainder, 
which  after  all  is  the  group  involved,  will  be  collected  up  to 
98%  of  the  total,  an  extraordinary  total  and  evidence  of  the 
way  in  which  the  matter  was  followed  up  in  the  newspapers 
for  no  collectors  were  used  and  bills  were  not  sent  for  several 
months. 

Utica,   N.   Y.,   said  there  were   perhaps   2500   delinquents 

123 


out  of  35,000  in  the  period  from  the  15th  of  February  to  the 
15th  of  June,  no  bills  having  been  sent  out,  no  collectors  having 
been  used,  the  only  work  of  a  follow-up  nature  being  newspa- 
per publicity.  Glens  Falls  found  that  10  7o  of  the  people  became 
delinquent  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  three  months,  no  effort 
having  been  made  up  to  that  time  to  follow  them  up. 

Certain  cities,  on  the  other  hand,  have  not  had  equally  en- 
couraging experience  with  voluntary  payments.  Osage  City 
reports  'Voluntary  collections  are  no  good";  Terre  Haute  re- 
ports ''a  large  number  of  delinquents  to  contend  with  under  the 
voluntary  collection  plan." 

In  almost  every  case  where  there  are  delinquents  they  are 
among  the  smaller  subscribers  so  that  while  the  numbers  look 
serious  in  some  cases,  the  money  value  is  seldom  considerable; 
for  example,  Melrose  found  that  in  three  collections  there  were 
about  five  hundred  delinquents  but  the  total  delinquency  was 
only  $600  and  after  notices  v/ere  sent  out  half  of  them  came  in 
promptly. 

Despite  the  relatively  small  amount  of  these  delinquencies 
in  value,  it  is  well  worth  while  to  install  a  good  follow-up  system 
for  its  moral  and  educative  effect.  Those  in  charge  of  the  war 
chest  in  Columbus  believe  that  the  real  key  to  good  collections 
is  in  continued  educational  work  and  that,  roughly,  the  percen- 
tage of  delinquents  is  an  index  of  the  slackness  of  educational 
effort. 

The  city  of  Elkhart  developed  a  novel  plan  to  stimulate 
prompt  collection  and  to  keep  the  war  chest  idea  alive  among 
people.  In  that  city  every  subscriber,  whether  his  money  was 
deducted  by  his  employer  or  whether  he  paid  in  person  at  the 
war  chest  office,  was  given  a  button  of  distinctive  color  for  each 
payment.  This  did  not  cost  much  and  it  was  found  that  when 
folks  began  to  blossom  out  with  buttons  each  month  the  delin- 
quents were  stimulated  to  go  down  and  get  their  buttons  too. 
Voluntary  Units — Two  or  three  cities  have  applied  the  plan 
of  group  collections  to  individual  subscribers  as  well  as  to  in- 
dustrial subscribers.  These  were  organized  into  clubs  or  asso- 
ciations and  elect  their  own  treasurers  and  make  payments 
through  them  after  the  fashion  of  the  war  saving  societies  and 
liberty  bond  clubs,  etc. 

In  the  Columbus  war  chest  there  are  a  number  of  such 
groups  containing  from  ten  to  eighty  subscribers  who  have  signi- 
fied their  intention  to  pay  through  some  fanner,  grain  dealer, 
or  storekeeper  in  their  vicinity.  These  groups  were  handled  in 
exactly  the  same  way  as  the  employees  of  a  store  or  factory  who 
allow  deductions  from  their  pay.  The  war  chest  sends  out 
shortly  before  the  first  of  the  month  a  unit  collection  sheet 
which  is  virtually  a  statement  of  account.  It  shows  the  name, 
the  amount  due  on  the  approaching  first  of  the  month,  the  delin- 
quency, and  the  total  due  from  each  subscriber  in  the  collection 

124 


unit.  These  collection  sheets  were  prepared  in  triplicate,  the 
original  and  duplicate  being  mailed  to  the  collection  unit  and  the 
triplicate  held  in  the  war  chest  office.  The  original  is  returned 
to  the  war  chest  and  the  duplicate  retained  by  the  collector  as  his 
record.  These  sheets  are  all  numbered  serially  and  must  be 
accounted  for  to  the  auditor.  The  only  thing  required  of  the 
treasurer  who  makes  the  collections  is  to  fill  in  the  proper 
column,  showing  the  amount  collected  from  each  person,  and  to 
total  that  column,  sending  the  amount  of  money  which  that  total 
reveals.  The  sheet  is  then  verified  by  the  war  chest  cashier 
w^ho  dates  and  signs  it  and  makes  proper  entry  in  his  cash  book 
and  turns  it  over  to  the  bookkeeping  department,  which  posts 
the  items  to  the  proper  ledger  cards.  The  sheet  then  goes  to  the 
binder  and  becomes  part  of  the  permanent  record. 

This  plan  has  not  secured  wide  adoption,  apparently  rather 
more  than  because  it  has  not  been  thought  of  than  for  any  other 
reason.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  people  do  not  like  to  have 
their  neighbors  and  friends  know  that  they  are  delinquent.  The 
adoption  of  this  plan  brings  a  modicum  of  social  pressure  to  bear 
in  the  direction  of  prompt  payment.  This  plan,  therefore,  is  one 
which  deserves  more  attention  than  it  has  hitherto  had. 

Bills — A  few  cities  have  found  after  some  experience  that 
it  is  worth  while  to  bill  regularly  a  certain  class  of  people.  One 
prominent  city,  for  example,  found  a  somewhat  large  delinquent 
list.  On  subjecting  it  to  scrutiny,  it  was  found  that  some  well- 
to-do  people  and  some  rather  prominent  government  officials 
appeared.  The  explanation  was  that  these  people  were  accus- 
tomed to  receiving  notices  and  frequently  had  their  checks  made 
out  by  secretaries  who  had  not  been  informed  of  the  pledge. 
The  city  then  began  to  bill  this  class  of  subscribers  and  reports 
that  there  has  been  no  further  difficulty  with'  delinquents  of 
this  type. 

The  Patriotic  Fund  of  Detroit  has  selected  about  three 
thousand  names  from  its  subscribers,  which  number  several 
hundred  thousand,  and  proposes  to  send  bills  to  them.  Roughly 
speaking,  these  people  were  all  those  who  gave  much  more  than 
one  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Though  the  number  is  relatively 
small,  this  method  will  reach  people  whose  aggregate  gift 
amounts  to  about  $3, 000,000  out  of  a  total  war  chest  of  $10,500,- 
000.  Thus  factory  collections  reach  $4,500,000;  purely  volun- 
tary payment  is  expected  of  only  $2,500,000. 

A  number  of  cities  also  have  people  who  have  pledged  to 
make  their  payments  by  mail.  These  cities  bill  such  persons 
and  the  bills  are  returned  through  the  mail.  Some  of  the  cities 
which  use  this  plan  report  that  it  is  the  very  best  way  of  making 
payments.  The  city  of  Ely,  Minn.,  sends  out  a  postcard  bill  to 
all  individual  subscribers. 

The  conclusion,  from  a  study  of  reports  on  this  topic  and 
from  personal  inquiry  in  several  cities,  is  that  it  is  very  well 

125 


worth  while,  if  authorization  to  draw  on  bank  account  cannot  be 
had,  to  bill  a  small  number  of  persons  whose  aggreg'ate  gift  is 
relatively  large,  the  reasons  being  that  it  is  more  convenient  to 
them  as  well  as  to  the  war  chest  office,  more  satisfactory,  in 
short,  from  every  point  of  view. 

Bank  Drafts — One  of  the  most  interesting  methods  of  col- 
lecting pledges  which  has  been  devised  is  the  practice  of  having 
the  war  chest  send  to  the  subscriber's  bank  an  official  receipt 
which  is  honored  as  a  draft  upon  his  account.  Because  of  the 
novelty  of  this  idea  in  the  East  and  the  skepticism  in  regard  to 
its  practicability  in  cities  which  have  not  tried  it,  an  especial 
effort  has  been  made  to  discover  how  it  operates  in  those  cities 
which  have  undertaken  to  follow  this  method. 

Kenosha,  Wis.,  reports:  '*We  have  one-third  of  the  accounts 
which  we  collect  in  our  office  on  this  basis,  or  about  five  hundred  in 
number.  The  receipt  which  we  use  is  about  the  size  of  a  standard 
check  and  is  deposited  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  every  month  so  that  it 
will  get  into  the  individual's'  bank  statement  with  the  checks  which  are 
returned  on  the  first  of  each  mon'th.  All  the  trouble  that  it  causes  the 
contributor  is  to  make  a  deduction  on  his  check  stub  for  the  amount 
that  he  pledges.  *  *  *  j^  saves  all  collection  charges.  I  can  see  no 
reason  why  anyone  interested  in  having  the  soldiers-  get  all  that  is 
given  for  them  should  object  to  this  plan  of  payment." 

The  Montgomery  Country  war  chest,  with  headquarters  at  Craw- 
fordsville,  Ind.,  reports  that  "The  information  we  gathered  on  this 
point  is  that  in  some  places  as  much  as'  85%  of  the  total  subscription 
to  the  war  chest  Wa,s  paid  through  the  banks  in  this  way.  Our  bank 
collections  have  not  totaled  anything  like  that  much,  but  we  are  still 
receiving  these  orders  from  subscribers  when  they  come  in  to  pay  at 
the  regular  place  of  making  collection.  The  subscribers  who  pay 
through  the  banks  in  this  way  get  no  receipt  beyond  the  debit  slip 
from  the  bank,  which  they  find  among  their  cancelled  checks." 

)The  Des  Moines  County  war  club,  with  headquarters  at  Burling- 
ton, Iowa,  reports  "We  find  this  method  very  successful  and  many  of 
those  who  signed  the  ordinary  form  are  having  it  changed  to  the  bank 
pledge  as  a  matter  of  convenience.  The  banks  handle  the  official 
receipt  just  the  same  as  they  would  the  pledge  signer's  check.  This 
does  not  entail  any  extra  work  on  the  part  of  the  bank.  *  ♦  *  j^  ^g 
one  of  the  'best  plans  and  eliminates  all  chance  of  the  pledge  signer 
neglecting  to  pay  at  the  stated  time  each  month." 

Albuquerque,  New  Mexico,  reports  "We  find  the  majority  of  those 
w^ho  have  bank  accounts  would  rather  pay  that  way  than  pay  by  check 
or  by  sending  in  their  subscriptions.  *  *  *  The  banks  have  taken  the 
matter  upon  themselves  and  we  have  had  no  complaint  from  them. 
*  *  *  The  bank  takes  the  receipt  which  is  sent  through  the  same  as  a 
check.  The  stubs  and  the  cashier's  check  are  sent  back  to  our  offices, 
where  our  clerk  enters  the  names  and  the  amounts  in  his  book." 

The  Davison  County  war  chest  of  Mitchell,  South  Dakota,  reports 
that  the   banks   "welcome   the   use   of   the   treasurer's   receipt.     They 

126 


preferred  to  handle  it  that  way  rather  than  have  the  contributor  come 
in  every  month.  The  draft  proposition  could  be  hainidled  at  the  con- 
venience of  the  bank  and  not  interfere  so  much  with  the  regular  busi- 
ness routine  of  the  teller.  *  *  *  We  met  with  very  few  objections 
from  the  people  when  we  put  that  proposition  up  to  them  and  in  fact 
some  have  come  in  and  changed  their  method  of  paying  and  now 
authorize  the  bank  to   draw." 

The  War  Service  League  of  Yellowstone  County,  Montana,  with 
'headquarters  at  Billings,  says:  "We  think  this  pledge  card  the  best 
one  we  have  in  use.  It  makes  collections  easy  and  practically  with  a 
minimum  of  annoyance  to  the  subscriber.  Fully  one-third  of  our  sub- 
scribers use  this  card,  another  third  or  more  sign  authorization  on 
their  payroll  and  something  less  than  a  third  sign  straight  pledges 
to  pay."  In  this  instance  the  war  chest  headquarters  fills  out  a  debit 
notice  in  its  own  office  for  all  the  bank  pledges  and  furnishes  them 
to  the  banks  on  which  the  pledges  are  made.  These  are  then  listed 
on  a  regular  credit  sheet  made  up  in  duplicate,  the  bank  retaining  one 
copy  and  receipting  the  other  for  the  war  chest  files. 

The  only  war  chest  which  records  any  trouble  with  this 
pledge  is  that  of  Silver  Bow  County,  with  headquarters  at  Butte, 
Montana,  and  in  that  instance  the  difficulty  came,  not  from 
objections  to  the  plan  but  from  misunderstandings  as  to  just 
what  was  involved.     The  report  says: 

"A  great  many  people  thought  this  was  to  designate  the  bank  at 
which  they  were  to  pay.  We  had  a  great  many  designate  a  bank  at 
which  they  had  never  had  an  account  and  others  whose  accounts  were 
overdrawn,  etc.  We  found,  however,  that  to  the  average  business 
man  who  carried  an  open  account  with  the  bank,  this  class  of  card 
was  quite  popular  and  since  the  drive  we  have  used  it  quite  exten- 
sively for  such  subscribers.  While  I  recommend  the  use  of  such  a 
card,  it  is  liable  to  be  misunderstO'Od  and  were  we  makinig  another 
drive,  I  would  not  place  this  card  indiscriminately  among  the  captains, 
but  would  use  it  after  the  drive  was  over  to  simplify  our  bookkeeping. 
We  consulted  the  banks  before  issuing  the  card  and  all  the  banks 
agreed  to  take  care  of  their  customers  in  that  way,  if  they  so  desired. 
We  filed  with  the  bank  an  original  pledge  card  and  kept  a  copy  in  our 
office  files.  W-e  have  eight  hundred  such  cards  out  of  the  twenty- 
seven  thousand  subscribers  and  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  month  the 
cashier  draws  up  all  the  receipts  and  presents  them  to  the  bank  for 
payment.  It  is  certainly  a  great  convenience  and  time-saver  and  is 
no  trouble  to  the  bank  a,nv  more  than  a  check." 

These  reports  were  given  in  detail,  but  they  did  not  by  any 
means  exhaust  the  number  of  cities  which  have  used  this  meth- 
od of  making  collections.  Others  were  Anaconda,  Mont.,  Lans- 
ing, Mich.,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Osage  City,  Kan.,  Racine,  Wis., 
and  Sheboygan,  and  still  others.  An  analagous  plan  has  been 
used  in  some  of  the  Boston  banks  for  liberty  loan  installments 
and  is  said  to  work  with  entire  satisfaction,  both  to  the  banks 
and  the  subscribers. 

127 


The  conclusion  is  unescapable  that  inasmuch  as  the  places 
which  have  used  the  plan  find  it  wholly  satisfactory,  it  has 
merit.  Unquestionably,  except  in  war  time,  there  would  be  a 
good  deal  of  objection,  but  circumstances  are  such  that  people 
generally  recognize  the  necessity  for  doing  business  on  unusual 
lines.  The  use  of  this  scheme  should  be  encouraged  for  that 
class  of  people  who,  under  the  plans  adopted  in  Columbus,  De- 
troit and  other  places,  would  be  billed,  namely,  those  people  who 
give  relatively  large  amounts  and  who  are  accustomed  to  having 
their  personal  affairs  taken  care  of,  to  some  extent,  by  assis- 
tants, and  who  without  receiving  a  notice  are  likely  to  overlook 
payment.  For  such,  this  method  is  a  real  convenience  and 
ensures  that  there  will  be  no  delinquents  among  a  class  where 
delinquencies  speedily  amount  up  to  considerable  sums.  The 
wisest  method  of  use  seems  to  be  that  suggested  by  the  secre- 
tary of  the  Silver  Bow  war  chest,  namely,  to  have  the  plan 
explained  to  the  banks  before  the  campaign  and  suggested  to  a 
selected  body  of  subscribers  afterward,  rather  than  have  the 
pledge  card,  which  might  be  signed  indescriminately  and  be 
misunderstood. 

Notes — Janesville,  Kenosha,  Racine,  and  Sheboygan  report 
that  for  certain  persons  who  have  no  regular  banking  connec- 
tions and  who  live  in  regions  where  they  cannot  readily  make 
payments  to  the  war  chest,  it  has  been  found  worth  while  to 
make  out  a  series  of  notes  which  are  deposited  in  one  of  the 
banks.  No  data  have  been  received  showing  the  ultimate  opera- 
tion of  this  plan,  what  proportion  of  subscribers  use  it,  nor  the 
way  in  which  it  is  regarded  by  them.  It  saves  the  war  chest, 
very  obviously,  from  any  necessity  for  getting  after  delinquents 
and  ensures  prompt  and  complete  payment.  This  is  particu- 
larly valuable  because,  as  already  indicated,  these  people  would 
be  more  or  less  difficult  to  follow  up  because  of  the  fact  that 
they  are  scattered  and  somewhat  inaccessible.  However,  for 
communities  such  as  those  in  Connecticut,  there  does  not  seem 
to  be  the  same  need  for  such  a  plan  as  this,  and  it  may  be  doubt- 
ed whether  in  our  communities  individuals  could  be  found  who 
would  agree  to  such  a  proposition. 

Following  up  Collections. 

A  very  large  number  of  methods  for  following  up  delin- 
quent subscribers  have  been  worked  out.  They  may  be  cata- 
logued roughly  as  a  reminder  sent  by  mail,  a  professional  collec- 
tor, a  member  of  the  home  guard,  a  volunteer  worker,  the  origi- 
nal solicitor  sent  back  either  as  a  reminder  or  as  a  collector,  the 
boy  scouts  with  bills,  the  use  of  the  telephone,  and  newspaper 
publicity.  This  list  does  not  exhaust  all  the  expedients  which 
have  been  adopted  in  various  cities  in  order  to  make  sure  that 
collections  remain  at  a  high  percentage. 

128 


Albany  has  a  permanent  organization  known  as  the  Loyal 
Legion,  which  is  maintained  in  order  to  conduct  campaigns  of 
every  sort  and  to  follow  up  payments  whenever  it  becomes  nec- 
essary to  do  personal  work. 

Dayton,  Ohio,  is  maintaining  the  organization  of  the  women 
of  the  homes  division  and  they  are  to  go  to  delinquents  in  order 
to  remind  them.  The  same  system  is  being  employed  in  Detroit. 
Terre  Haute,  which  reported  that  there  was  a  large  percentage 
of  delinquents  in  the  voluntary  payment  group,  gives  the  names 
to  the  lieutenants  each  month.  In  that  city,  however,  the  lieu- 
tenants are  not  intended  to  make  collections  but  simply  to  act 
as  personal  visitors  to  jog  the  memories  of  delinquents,  or  to 
find  out  if  there  is  reason  for  the  delinquency  and  to  try  to  brin^ 
improvement.  Philadelphia  has  tentatively  decided  to  follow 
the  plan  in  operation  in  Dayton  and  Albany.  Glens  Falls  and 
Herkimer  are  other  cities  which  use  the  original  solicitor  in 
following  up  delinquent  payments. 

Melrose,  Mass.,  sends  a  written  reminder  which  reads: 

"You  are  reminded  thaft  paymeint  on  your  enlistment  dated , 

amounting  to   ,  has  not  yet  been  received.     The  success  of 

the  entire  enterprise  and  the  part  our  city  is  to  play  in  bearing  its 
share  of  the  national  funds'  depends  upon  the  regularity  of  our  monthly 
receipts.  All  disbursements  are  made  monthly  and  it  is  important 
that  funds  be  promptly  available  to  meet  the  urgent  needs  of  our 
relief  work.  All  members  of  the  association  are  earnestly  urged  to 
cooperate  by  making  their  monthly  payments  promptly  and  thereby 
save  delay,  expense  and  burden  of  work  to  the  officers." 

At  the  end  of  six  months  operation,  Melrose  plans  to  have  a 
supplementary  campaign  using  the  original  organization  of 
solicitors.  At  that  time  all  delinquents  who  have  fallen  seri- 
ously behind  will  be  interviewed*  personally  in  order  to  discover, 
if  possible,  the  reason  and  restore  them  to  proper  activity.  At 
this  same  time  newcomers  in  the  community  and  those  who 
were  missed  in  the  first  drive  will  be  seen.  Butte,  Montana, 
sends  first  a  w^ritten  reminder,  and  if  that  does  not  bring  results, 
a  paid  collector  is  sent. 

Bolton  Landing,  N.  Y.,  plans  to  publish  the  names  of  those 
who  are  seriously  behind  in  their  payments.  Inasmuch  as  the 
population  there  is  only  1200,  it  is  possible  for  the  war  chest 
officials  to  investigate  each  case  and  probably  no  serious  in- 
justice would  result  from  the  operation  of  that  plan.  The  same 
idea  is  to  be  put  in  operation  in  Mount  Sterling,  Ohio.  That 
town,  also,  has  a  small  population  and  there  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  bring  serious  difficulties.  It  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  it  would  be  possible  to  apply  this  scheme  fairly  in  a 
large  community,  inasmuch  as  there  are  frequently  legitimate 
reasons  for  delinquency  and  it  would  absolutely  be  unfair  to 
pillory  individuals  before  the  public  unless  their  cases  had  been 

129 


thoroughly  investigated.  Newberry,  Michigan,  has  gone  even 
further  and  states  that  the  county  committee  ''may  bring  action 
for  unpaid  contributions  if  they  deem  it  advisable."  It  is  serious- 
ly doubtful  whether  any  war  chest  officials  would  go  that  far 
in  practice.  It  might  conceivably  be  done  in  one  case  which 
had  been  thoroughly  investigated  for  its  moral  effect,  but  even 
so,  it  seems  extremely  questionable  whether  it  would  be  a  wise 
plan.  While  the  pledge  may  be  put  in  legal  form,  and  while 
persons  who  do  not  act  in  good  faith  ought  to  have  brought 
home  to  them  the  improper  character  of  their  action,  the  war 
chest  is,  after  all,  a  free-will  offering  and  when  it  ceases  to  be 
such  it  is  not  worth  while  attempting  to  collect  money  forcibly. 
A  war  chest  should  never  threaten  to  do  something  which  it 
does  not  intend  to  do  in  practice,  because  it  loses  its  claim  upon 
public  confidence  by  so  doing. 

Nutley,  N.  J.,  follows  up  their  delinquents  through  the 
members  of  the  home  guard,  a  plan  w^hich  some  other  cities  have 
followed.  Racine  uses  a  somewhat  conspicuous  follow-up 
slip  for  a  reminder  which  reads  as  follows : 

"Allow   us   to   remind   you   that   your   subscription  has   not   been 

received   for   the   period   ending We   trust   that   a   gentle 

reminder  of  this  kind  will  bring  immediate  respons-e  and  may  we  ask 
you  to  remit  promptly  in  future.  Postage  means  money  out  of  our 
funds  and  you  will  appreciate  that  every  cent  is  needed  for  our  sol- 
dier boys,  their  dependents  and  other  sufferers." 

The  number  of  war  chests  which  make  use  of  paid  collectors 
is  relatively  small,  certainly  a  very  distinct  minority.  A  few, 
however,  regard  this  as  a  wise  method  of  procedure.  Butte, 
Mont.,  for  example,  reports  that  the  best  method  of  making 
collections  is  to  have  a  live  collector  who  will  handle  the  matter 
in  a  business-like  fashion.  Other  war  chests  which  have  adopt- 
ed this  plan  are  Coaldale,  Elkhart,  Ilion,  and  Kane.  Other 
cities  object  to  this  plan  on  the  ground  that  where  there  is  a 
collector,  people  will  get  in  the  habit  of  waiting  until  he  comes 
before  they  get  around  to  make  their  payment.  Normally  this 
work  is  done  by  volunteers  because  it  is  thought  that  it  has  a 
better  moral  effect,  is  more  likely  to  be  properly  done,  and  is 
less  expensive. 

Bookkeeping  and  Accounting. 

The  problem  of  handling  the  war  chest  accounts  varies  a 
great  deal  with  the  size  of  the  city  and  the  nature  of  the  pledges 
which  are  taken.  It  would  not  be  possible  to  set  forth  in  full 
detail  any  large  number  of  bookkeeping  practices  and  it  is  not 
possible  either  to  lay  down  categorical  judgment  as  to  which 
system  is  best. 

What  this  report  shall  attempt,  therefore,  is  a  brief  sum- 
mary of  a  few  of  the  more  notable  points  in  some  of  the  systems 

130 


which  have  been  adopted,  without  pretending  to  deal  with  the 
matter  comprehensively.  The  intention  is  that  it  shall  be  sug- 
gestive rather  than  descriptive.  Every  city  will  have  to  devise 
its  own  system  of  bookkeeping.  The  points  dealt  with  here 
may  be  helpful  in  avoiding  pitfalls  or  in  suggesting  methods 
which  might  otherwise  not  be  thought  of. 

The  Salem  System — A  scheme  of  bookkeeping  and  account- 
ing was  devised  for  Salem,  Mass.,  by  Mr.  J.  Chester  Crandell, 
C.  P.  A.,  110  State  Street,  Boston,  Mass.,  and  its  use  is  depend- 
ent on  his  consent. 

The  idea  underlying  the  system  is  to  make  it  at  once  rapid, 
simple,  air-tight  against  errors,  and  possible  to  audit  both  com- 
pletely and  speedily.  Each  subscriber  was  given  a  permanent 
number  which  was  entered  on  his  pledge  card,  which  in  turn  was 
filed  in  an  envelope,  also  numbered.  There  was,  in  the  second 
place,  an  alphabetical  card  index  showing  the  name  of  the  in- 
dividual, his  address,  his  number,  and  also  the  number  of  the 
envelope  in  which  his  pledge  card  was  filed. 

In  the  third  place,  each  subscriber  was  given  an  envelope 
with  twelve  slips,  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  which  his  number 
was  printed.  The  subscriber  in  making  payment  entered  his 
name,  address,  and  amount  on  a  slip  which  he  brought  with 
him  to  the  war  chest  office.  If  he  failed  to  bring  his  slip,  there 
was  a  slip  of  distinctive  color  at  the  payment  counter  which 
he  could  fill  out  and  the  clerk  ascertained  his  number  from  the 
alphabetical  index,  entering  it  upon  his  payment  slip. 

When  the  subscriber  presented  his  money  and  the  deposit 
slip  the  clerk  verified  the  two  and  rang  up  the  payment  in  a 
cash  register,  inserting  the  deposit  slip  in  a  slot  at  the  side. 
The  register  printed  the  number  of  the  transaction,  the  date, 
and  the  amount  on  both  the  upper  and  the  lower  part  of  the 
slip,  cut  it  in  two,  and  deposited  the  upper  part  in  the  lock  box, 
the  lower  part  being  returned  to  the  subscriber  as  a  receipt. 
The  amount  of  course  is  rung  up  in  plain  sight  of  the  subscriber 
and  appears  both  on  the  deposit  slip  and  on  the  cash  register 
tape. 

At  the  end  of  the  day  the  cash  register  tape  is  totaled  and 
the  deposit  slips  taken  from  the  lock  box  and  arranged  in  the 
sequence  of  the  transactions  in  order  to  make  certain  that  none 
has  been  lost.  If  in  ringing  up  on  the  cash  register  a  mistake 
is  made  the  receipt  which  would  ordinarily  go  to  the  customer 
is  stamped  "Error"  and  notation  is  made  on  the  back  of  the 
nature  of  the  error.  The  spoiled  receipt  is  retained  and  a  new 
slip  of  distinctive  color  made  out  and  put  through  the  machine. 
At  the  close  of  the  day  when  the  deposit  slips  have  been  arrang- 
ed in  the  order  of  the  transactions  these  "Error"  slips  are  readily 
distinguished  and  are  attached  to  the  corresponding  correct  slips 
in  order  that  the  auditor  may  check  them  up  and  a  pen  and  ink 
notation  of  correction  is  made  on  the  cash  register  tape. 

131 


The  deposit  slips  are  then  re-sorted  according  to  their 
pledge  numbers.  This  is  done  in  order  to  post  rapidly,  for  the 
ledger  cards  are  filed  numerically,  a  standard  Library  Bureau 
card  being  used  with  numbered  tabs  so  that  only  one  card  is 
touched  in  selecting  any  individual's  ledger  account. 

The  next  step  is  posting  to  the  individual  accounts.  The 
posting  consists  simply  in  stamping  the  date  of  payment  in  the 
proper  space  on  the  card,  unless  the  individual  has  paid  an  odd 
amount.  The  regular  monthly  payment  appears  at  the  top  of 
the  card  and  experience  has  shown  that  people  almost  without 
fail  pay  in  .multiples  of  one  month,  not  a  month  and  a  half,  or 
three  weeks,  or  any  other  part  of  a  month.  Hence,  the  amount 
of  entry  which  has  to  be  made  by  hand  proves  in  practice  to  be 
extremely  small. 

The  amounts  thus  posted  are  put  on  the  adding  machine, 
and  if  the  total  agrees  with  the  total  of  the  cash  register  tape 
and  the  total  of  the  deposit  slips,  it  is  obvious  that  the  books 
balance. 

The  cash  register  tape  for  each  day  is  then  pasted  in  a 
scrap  book  with  proper  notation  of  correction  of  errors,  and 
becomes  the  cash  book.  The  deposit  slips  for  each  day  are  put 
in  an  envelope  and  dated,  so  that  when  the  auditor  takes  the 
books,  or  if  ever  any  question  arises,  every  single  transaction 
can  be  readily  located. 

Finally  there  is  a  loose-leaf  book  called  "the  register  of 
pledges."  This  is  arranged  in  a  series  of  columns  showing  from 
left  to  right  the  serial  number  of  the  pledge,  the  number  of 
the  report  envelope  in  which  the  original  pledge  card  is  located, 
the  name,  address,  cash  payment  at  the  time  the  pledge  was 
given,  and  the  monthly  pledge. 

This  system  is  rapid  and  practically  proof  against  error 
in  its  application.  The  difficulty  that  people  fail  to  bring  in 
their  deposit  slips  is  one  which  must  be  faced,  'because  that 
involves  looking  up  their  ledger  numbers  in  the  alphabetical 
file.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  look  up  relatively  few,  v/hereas  if  ledger  cards  are  filed 
alphabetically  all  would  have  to  be  looked  up  in  some  stage  of  the 
operations. 

Philadelphia — A  war  chest  like  that  of  Philadelphia  and 
vicinity  with  500,000  accounts  involves  a  tremendous  problem. 
The  system  used  there  was  developed  by  Mr.  Schoenbucher,  C. 
P.  A.,  the  Comptroller,  who  enlisted  a  number  of  certified  pub- 
lic accountants  to  take  care  of  the  work  in  several  collection 
districts  and  obtained  in  this  way  voluntary  service,  the  cost  of 
which  if  paid  for  at  the  usual  rates  would  have  amounted  to 
several  thousand  dollars. 

This  plan  is  built  about  a  coupon  book,  the  cover  and  first 
two  pages  of  which  are  marked  with  one  operation  on  the  type- 
writer by  means  of  carbons  and  show  the  name,  address,  total 

132 


subscription,  and  monthly  payment.  The  first  page  is  a  ledger 
card,  which  beside  the  other  data  shows  the  district  number 
and  the  number  of  the  individual  account  and  has  spaces  for 
twelve  payments.  The  third  sheet  is  identical  but  of  distinctive 
color,  and  is  to  be  used  for  follow-up  work.  The  remaining 
sheets  are  coupons  and  stubs,  the  coupon  to  be  used  as  a  deposit 
slip  and  the  stub  for  receipt.  Both  bear  the  district  number 
and  the  account  number. 

When  an  individual  makes  his  payment  at  any  bank  he 
must  carry  his  coupon  book  with  him.  If  he  forgets  his  book 
there  is  no  way  for  the  bank  to  discover  his  number  as  there  is 
in  Salem,  because  of  the  decentralized  method  of  collection. 
The  bank  in  such  a  case  must  make  out  a  memorandum.  In 
normal  cases,  however,  the  individual  fills  out  his  coupon  and 
stub  with  name,  amount,  etc.,  the  bank  stamps  the  receipt  on 
the  stub,  and  retains  the  coupon  and  the  money.  It  puts  the 
money  on  deposit  to  the  order  of  the  treasurer  and  sends  the 
coupons  in  stout  manilla  envelops  to  Drexel  &  Company,  Treas- 
urer, with  a  letter  of  advice  stating  the  number  and  amount  of 
coupons. 

The  treasurer  has  a  ledger  marked  "sundry  depositaries" 
which  contains  an  account  with  each  bank.  As  the  letters  of 
advice  come  in  they  are  retained  by  the  treasurer  for  his  post- 
ing, the  number  and  total  of  the  coupons  is  marked  on  the  out- 
side of  the  envelope,  and  the  envelope  is  then  sent  with  its 
contents  to  war  chest  headquarters. 

Each  envelope  is  opened  separately  and  the  contents  sorted 
for  that  bank  by  districts.  The  total  from  each  envelope  must 
equal  that  bank's  letter  of  advice.  In  case  the  banks  have  re- 
ceived payments  without  coupons  they  have  enclosed  memoranda 
which  are  at  this  point  checked  up  in  an  alphabetical  file  and 
proper  coupons  substituted. 

The  coupons  from  each  bank  are  then  listed  according  to 
districts  with  the  bank's  number  as  well  as  name  at  the  top 
of  the  sheet.  Then  the  bundles  of  coupons,  each  with  the  bank's 
number  on  the  outside,  are  thrown  on  a  table  which  is  built 
with  boxes  for  each  of  the  eight  districts.  Then  the  bank  sheets 
are  totaled  for  each  district  on  a  Duplex  Burroughs,  which 
shows  the  total  for  each  district  as  well  as  the  grand  total. 
This  of  course  again  proves  the  account. 

The  coupons  for  each  division,  still  in  bank  bundles,  are 
sent  to  the  proper  divisional  accountants.  These  men  list  the 
coupons  from  each  bank  by  their  amounts  and  also  by  their 
serial  numbers,  the  total  for  each  bank  as  well  as  the  grand 
total  being  taken  on  a  Duplex  Burroughs.  This,  of  course,  has 
to  prove  with  the  chief  accountant's  total.  In  doing  this  the 
total  of  the  serial  numbers  is  al^o  taken  for  purposes  which 
will  appear  later.  The  sheet  just  described  becomes  the  cash 
book  for  that  district  and  is  its  fundamental  record. 

133 


The  coupons  are  then  sorted  in  their  numerical  order  and 
the  amounts  are  posted  to  the  subscriber's  accounts,  which  are 
arranged  numerically  and  as  the  cards  are  posted  they  are 
ended  up  in  the  tray.  The  posting  in  Philadelphia  is  done  by 
hand  though  there  is  no  particular  reason  apparent  why  it  could 
not  be  done  with  a  rubber  stamp  or  by  machine. 

When  the  posting  is  complete  the  amounts  together  with 
the  serial  numbers  of  the  ledger  cards  are  put  on  the  Duplex 
Burroughs.  The  total  of  the  posting  must  agree  with  the  day's 
total  received.  The  totals  of  the  serial  numbers  must  agree 
with  the  previous  totals  of  the  serial  numbers,  this  serving  as  a 
practical  guarantee  that  no  money  has  been  posted  to  the  wrong 
account,  because  the  serial  numbers  are  such  a  haphazard  col- 
lection that  the  chance  of  getting  a  similar  total  from  two  sets 
is  entirely  negligible. 

Albany — Albany  has  adopted  what  is  practically  a  straight 
savings  bank  system  with  ledger  cards  of  four  colors,  one  each 
for  annual,  semi-annual,  quarterly,  and  monthly  payments.  A 
Burroughs  posting  machine  and  Library  Bureau  cards  are  used. 
The  deposit  slip  is  made  out  by  the  cashier,  the  original  being 
returned  to  the  subscriber  as  a  receipt  and  the  carbon  retained 
as  a  deposit  slip. 

Glens  Falls — In  this  city  the  individual  makes  out  a  deposit 
slip  and  the  account  is  at  once  put  on  the  cash  book  and  posted 
to  an  ordinary  savings  bank  ledger  card  of  distinctive  color  for 
the  different  methods  of  payment.  There  is  a  sheet  which  is 
used  by  factories  in  making  payments  for  their  employees  which 
besides  the  serial  number  shows  the  name  of  the  firm  and  in 
the  spaces  below  the  names  of  the  subscribers  and  the  amounts. 
There  is  also  a  column  for  remarks  in  order  that  a  record  may 
be  kept  of  persons  who  leave  or  enter  their  employ. 

Syracuse — Syracuse  after  having  employed  for  a  year  a 
system  built  about  a  ledger  arranged  by  street  and  number  is 
changing  to  a  system  which  rests  on  the  ordinary  savings  bank 
methods.  Their  plan  is  interesting  because,  like  Detroit  and 
a  few  others,  they  do  not  propose  to  carry  a  separate  ledger  card 
for  each  subscriber  who  pays  through  some  group  but  intend 
to  have  only  one  ledger  card  for  each  factory,  store,  or  other 
collection  unit. 

For  each  factory  or  store  there  is  a  sheet  showing  the  firm 
name,  address,  and  telephone  number,  then  a  list  of  employees 
with  the  amounts  of  the  yearly  subscriptions,  followed  by  twelve 
columns  in  which  check  marks  may  be  put  for  payments  each 
month.  When  the  factory  reports  the  payments  the  amounts 
are  not  entered  at  all  on  these  sheets  but  simply  a  check  mark 
is  made  for  purposes  of  doing  the  work  rapidly.  On  .this  sheet 
too  any  necessary  notes  will  be  made,  such  as  ''left  employ", 
"drafted",  etc.  This  makes  it  possible,  without  carrying  a 
ledger  account,  to  tell  an  individual  if  he  inquires  how  he  stands, 

134 


or  to  make  out  a  ledger  account  for  him  if  it  becomes  necessary 
to  carry  his  account  individually.  It  would  seem  a  rather  better 
plan  to  me  to  rule  the  back  of  the  pledge  cards,  to  file  these 
according  to  their  factory  groups,  and  to  do  the  checking  on  the 
back  of  the  pledge  cards  instead  of  having  them  on  sheets. 
The  reason  for  this  suggestion  is  that  in  the  course  of  a  year 
a  good  many  names  will  have  to  be  entered  on  these  sheets 
which  will  require  either  interlinear  corrections  or  the  aban- 
donment of  alphabetical  order,  and'  many  transcriptions  of 
names  will  inevitably  have  to  be  made.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  the  cards  are  used,  it  will  be  necessary  only  to  transfer  the 
position  of  the  individual's  card  in  the  file,  thus  saving  a  good 
deal  of  labor. 

Columlms — A  subscriber  on  paying  at  the  war  chest  office 
fills  out  a  deposit  slip  shov,dng  the  amount,  name,  and  address. 
This  is  given  in  at  the  cashier's  window  and  a  cash  register 
receipt  received  in  return.  These  slips  are  filed  until  the  close 
of  the  day,  at  which  time  they  are  posted  into  a  cashier's  counter 
collection  sheet  which  shows  the  subscriber's  name,  address, 
and  the  number  of  the  bank  on  which  the  check  is  drawn,  as 
well  as  the  amount.  These  entries  are  made  after  the  slips 
have  been  sorted  alphabetically  and  are  posted  to  the  counter 
collection  sheets  in  alphabetical  order.  This  is  done  for  con- 
venience in  posting  to  the  ledger  at  a  later  time. 

After  the  counter  collection  sheets  are  written  up  each  is 
totaled,  dated,  signed  by  the  cashier,  and  entered  on  his  cash 
book.  Obviously  the  total  of  the  counter  collection  sheets  and 
the  cash  register  total  must  agree. 

The  sheets  are  then  sent  to  the  bookkeeping  department 
which  posts  the  amounts  to  the  ledger  cards  and  the  sheets  are 
then  put  in  a  binder  as  part  of  the  permanent  record,  being 
numbered  consecutively  for  the  convenience  of  the  auditor. 

The  ledger  cards  are  filed  alphabetically  save  that  those 
of  subscribers  in  collection  units  are  kept  together  so  that  they 
can  be  more  conveniently  posted.  In  such  cases  instead  of 
using  a  counter  collection  sheet  the  unit  is  sent  a  similar  sheet 
with  the  names  of  subscribers  and  amounts  due,  which  on  its 
return  carries  the  amounts  paid.  These  sheets  are  signed  by 
the  cashier  and  the  material  on  them  is  then  posted  to  the 
ledger  cards  and  the  sheet  put  in  a  binder  in  the  same  way  as 
counter  collection  sheets. 

The  same  plan  is  eniployed  in  Springfield,  0.,  and  Daji;on, 
0.,  with  some  local  modifications.  All  these  cities  either  have 
begun  or  are  now  considering  the  use  of  machines  for  posting. 

Detroit — The  only  thing  which  it  is  necessary  to  say  about 
the  Detroit  system  of  bookkeeping  is  that  it  has  open  accounts 
only  for  the  individual  subscribers,  for  each  factory,  or  other 
unit  of  collection.  The  difficulties  resulting  from  labor  turn- 
over which  are  normal  to  this  system  are  obviated  by  the  fact 

135 


that  the  factories  of  Detroit  underwrite  the  subscriptions  of 
their  employees.  Thus  the  war  chest  office  receives  the  same 
amount  from  each  factory  each  month  and  there  is  no  need 
to  devise  a  system  for  explaining  discrepancies. 

In  the  individual  subscribers'  division  people  in  making 
their  payments  dictate  the  names  and  addresses  which  are  put 
on  the  receipt  slips,  which  are  numbered  and  made  out  in  dupli- 
cate by  carbon  at  the  war  chest  office,  in  triplicate  elsewhere, 
the  original  going  to  the  subscriber,  the  first  copy  to  the  war 
chest,  and  the  second  copy  being  retained  by  the  local  collection 
agency. 

At  the  war  chest  office  when  fifty  people  have  paid  and 
the  receipt  book  is  exhausted  the  teller  retires,  balances  the 
accounts,  puts  the  money  and  slips  in  an  envelope,  and  then 
turns  the  envelope  with  its  contents  over  to  the  auditor. 

Conclusions — It  is  not  necessary  to  describe  other  book- 
keeping systems.  It  may  be  said  that,  in  view  of  the  experience 
of  cities  which  have  been  very  frank  in  their  statements,  there 
should  be  a  separate  ledger  account  for  each  individual,  unless 
the  Detroit  plan  of  having  factory  and  store  subscriptions  un- 
derwritten is  employed.  Second,  the  ledger  cards  of  those  who 
make  their  payments  in  groups  through  the  units  collection 
system  should  be  filed  according  to  their  units  and  preferably 
in  the  order  of  the  factory  or  store  payroll.  Third,  there  is  no 
reason  why  in  unit  collections  the  posting  should  not  be  done 
with  an  ordinary  rubber  stamp  showing  only  the  date,  so  long 
as  the  amount  of  the  monthly  payment  appears  at  the  top  of  the 
card,  or  a  posting  machine  may  be  used,  simply  locking  in  the 
folio  number  of  the  factory  report  sheet  and  putting  the  cards 
either  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear  on  the  factory  report 
without  bothering  to  record  the  amounts  in  each  individual 
case.  Fourth,  it  is  distinctly  advisable  on  the  factory  collec- 
tion sheet  to  have  a  columm  for  delinquencies  for,  while  it  will 
be  seldom  used  on  account  of  the  deduction  plan,  an  individual 
may  have  been  laid  off  or  may  have  been  ill  or  for  other  reasons 
may  have  become  temporarily  behind,  and  if  no  provision  is 
made  on  the  sheet  this  may  cause  some  slight  confusion.  Fifth, 
the  use  of  the  coupon  system  after  the  fashion  of  Salem  and 
Philadelphia  is  a  very  convenient  method,  particularly  if  com- 
munities are  small  enough  so  that  people  can  be  reminded 
through  publicity  to  bring  in  their  coupons. 

There  are  only  one  or  two  other  matters  which  require  any 
comment.  For  the  most  part  they  are  of  trifling  character,  yet 
they  may  cause  a  good  deal  of  difficulty.  In  the  first  place, 
it  is  far  better  to  use  ledger  cards  manufactured  in  standard 
form  by  some  regular  concern.  In  the  present  condition  of  the 
market  if  one  has  his  own  ledger  cards  made  locally  the  stock 
of  different  orders  is  not  likely  to  be  absolutely  uniform  and 
there  will  often  be  trifling  differences  in  size.     Both  these  de- 

136 


fects,  tiny  as  they  are,  make  handling  difficult.  In  the  second 
place,  it  is  well  to  warn  against  the  use  of  blue  cards  if  the 
shade  is  at  all  dark,  because  it  is  trying  on  the  eyes  and  some- 
times difficult  to  decipher,  particularly  if  posting  is  done  with 
pen  and  ink  and  a  blotter  used.  In  the  third  place,  it  is  of 
doubtful  wisdom — though  done  by  many  cities — to  use  the  back 
of  the  pledge  card  as  the  ledger  card.  The  reason  for  this 
judgment  is  that  in  copying  on  the  typewriter  on  the  reverse 
side  the  stenographer  must  carry  all  the  data  in  her  memory, 
and  copying  therefore  is  more  difficult.  Moreover  the  cards 
are  likely  to  be  rumpled  somewhat;  furthermore,  since  one 
wishes  almost  inevitably  to  have  a  duplicate  file  for  purposes 
of  safety  and  copies  must  be  made  anyway  there  is  no  particu- 
lar reason  why  the  copies  should  not  be  put  onto  the  ledger 
card.  In  the  fourth  place,  it  is  very  desirable  in  the  course  of 
the  campaign  to  have  the  factories  or  other  collection  units 
retain  the  pledge  cards  of  their  men  and  make  out  the  first 
payment  reports  sheets  in  their  own  payroll  order.  Many 
pledge  cards  are  so  nearly  illegible  that  they  are  hard  to  de- 
cipher, and  after  they  have  been  turned  in,  it  is  difficult  to 
resort  them  into  their  proper  factory  groups.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  they  are  retained  at  the  factory  the  office  force,  being 
familiar  with  the  names,  can  readily  decipher  them  and  there 
is  no  problem  of  sorting  them  into  factory  groups  to  be  faced. 
Moreover  the  report  comes  in  in  proper  order  and  ledger  cards 
may  be  made  out  speedily  and  accurately.  This  idea  which 
appears  to  have  originated  in  Rochester  has  proved  to  be  a 
splendid  time  saver. 

It  is  pointed  out  elsewhere  that  it  is  unwise  from  a  book- 
keeping standpoint  to  have  pledges  taken  on  the  basis  of  per- 
centages or  on  the  basis  of  so  much  time  a  week,  because  in 
some  months  there  are  five  pay  days,  but  not  in  the  same  months 
in  different  establishments  owing  to  the  use  of  different  pay 
days.  It  is,  consequently,  difficult  for  the  war  chest  books 
to  be  kept  in  such  a  way  that  they  may  be  readily  audited.  This 
also  presents  the  difficulty  that  the  variation  in  a  man's  rate 
of  pay  makes  an  alteration  in  his  subscription,  which  is  con- 
fusing to  the  bookkeepers.  Speaking  from  a  bookkeeping 
standpoint,  therefore,  subscriptions  should  be  taken  for  a  defi- 
nite amount  and  not  on  the  basis  of  a  percentage  or  so  many 
hours  a  week.  Some  cities,  while  recognizing  this  fact,  feel 
nevertheless  that  there  are  such  notable  advantages  of  other 
sorts  in  this  method  that  this  disadvantage  must  be  borne. 


137 


CHAPTER  FIVE. 


DISBURSEMENTS. 

Administrative  Expenses. 

The  nature  and  size  of  the  administrative  expenses  of  war 
chests  and  the  methods  employed  in  meeting  them  are  extremely 
varied.  In  large  cities  the  business  is  so  great  that  expenses 
necessarily  multiply.  In  one  prominent  city,  for  example,  the 
war  chest  has  three  times  as  many  accounts  as  the  largest  bank 
and  very  many  more  than  the  largest  public  utility.  The  ad^ 
ministration  of  a  fund  of  several  millions  of  dollars  with  so 
many  contributors  to  be  followed  up  obviously  requires  expert 
work,  which  normally  cannot  be  had  on  a  satisfactory  basis 
from  volunteers  though  in  some  cases  it  is  possible  to  use  volun- 
teer help.  Smaller  funds,  on  the  other  hand,  require  much  less 
office  work  and  in  a  very  small  community  the  problem  of  col- 
lections may  become  so  simple  that  practically  no  expense  is 
involved.  It  is  impossible  therefore  to  make  a  flat  and  catego- 
rical statement  with  regard  to  administrative  expenses.  The 
solution  of  the  problems  connected  with  this  must  be  local. 
Large  cities  unquestionably  need  in  each  case  an  expert  execu- 
tive secretary  and  competent  office  staff,  but  by  laying  suffi- 
cient emphasis  upon  collections  through  stores  and  factories 
and  by  other  efficient  means  they  can  keep  the  cost  to  a  very 
low  percentage.  Size,  methods  of  collections,  bookkeeping 
methods,  the  possibility  of  securing  volunteers,  these  and  many 
other  factors  have  a  bearing. 

Of  the  cities  which  have  reported  about  twenty  have  a  paid 
executive  secretary  or  office  manager.  Almost  none  has  any 
other  sort  of  paid  officers  though  a  few  do  have  paid  treasurers. 
Most  of  the  rest  employ  only  clerical  help.  There  is  one  struct- 
ural difficulty  which  needs  attention  if  a  paid  office  manager 
is  employed.  Frequently  questions  of  policy  come  before  him 
and  in  some  cities  there  is  not  sufficiently  close  integration 
between  the  executive  committee  and  the  office  force. 

The  methods  of  meeting  administrative  expenses  vary  as 
widely  as  the  expenses  themselves.  A  number  report  that  there 
are  no  expenses.  These  fall  into  three  classes :  first,  those  who 
use  voluntary  assistance  entirely;  second,  those  in  which  the 
municipality  takes  care  of  all  the  bills;  and,  third,  those  in 
which  some  bank  has  undertaken  to  take  care  of  the  whole 
problem.  A  rather  surprising  number  report  no  expenses. 
Generally  they  are  small  communities. 

138 


Most  of  the  cities  meet  the  necessary  expenses  out  of  the 
war  chest  funds  themselves ;  others  have  separate  funds  to  take 
care  of  the  expenses  of  the  campaign  and  the  expense  of  admin- 
istration. Still  others  have  separate  campaign  funds,  but  take 
the  running  expenses  from  the  war  chest. 

The  argument  in  favor  of  a  separate  fund  is  that  it  saves 
the  war  chest  from  a  great  deal  of  criticism  on  the  part  of  peo- 
ple who  do  not  appreciate  how  large  the  administrative  problem 
is,  and  who  would  therefore  object  to  an  office  force  and  the 
payment  of  help  because  it  looks  to  them  like  "graft." 

Columbus  reported,  for  example,  that  this  "question  was 
raised  at  the  outset,  and  while  the  committee  realized  that  in 
some  instances  the  contribution  to  the  separate  fund  might  in 
practice  amount  only  to  a  deduction  from  that  individual's  sub- 
scription to  the  war  chest,  they  pointed  out  that  it  came,  never- 
theless, from  a  person  who  recognized  the  need  for  an  office 
force,  and  did  not  come  from  the  subscription  of  a  person  who 
objected  to  the  use  of  any  part  of  his  money  for  such  purposes. 
It  is  carrying  to  its  logical  conclusion  the  privilege  of  allowing 
a  man  to  designate  how  his  gift  shall  be  used.  Just  as  men 
might  be  narrow-minded  and  indicate  on  their  cards  that  they 
did  not  want  some  certain  funds  to  participate,  so  these  men 
could  be  broad-minded  and  indicate  in  this  fashion  their  willing- 
ness that  portions  of  their  gifts  should  be  used  to  pay  office 
expenses. 

Columbus  and  the  other  cities  which  adopted  this  plan  feel 
that  it  was  one  of  their  very  best  advertising  features,  and 
they  played  it  up  strongly  that  every  cent  contributed  went  to 
the  soldiers  and  that  not  a  penny  would  go  into  salaries  or  ex- 
penses of  any  kind.  All  agree  that  the  results  were  notable 
in  enlargements  in  the  sums  of  money  collected.  It  is  evident 
that  this  line  of  argument  has  convinced  the  officials  of  the 
Red  Cross,  for  it  will  be  remembered  that  great  stress  was  laid 
at  the  time  of  its  Second  War  Fund  drive  upon  the  fact  that 
$1.02  was  spent  for  every  dollar  collected,  that  not  a  cent  of 
the  War  Fund  went  into  expenses,  and  that  the  interest  derived 
actually  increased  each  dollar  by  two  cents.  This  was  felt  to 
be  a  splendid  advertising  feature  and  one  which  produced  large- 
ly. There  is  this  other  statement  to  be  made  in  favor  of  this 
idea,  namely,  that  it  relieves  some  of  the  pressure  upon  those 
in  charge  of  the  administration  of  the  fund  and  allows  them 
to  do  things  which  might  seem  extravagant  to  many,  but  which 
from  the  point  of  view  of  business  administration,  will  pay  in 
the  end — for  example,  the  purchasing  of  expensive  machinery, 
such  as  cash  registers,  posting  machines,  etc. 

It  ought  to  be  said,  further,  that  in  a  number  of  cities  the 
war  chest  officials  vigorously  assert  that  the  subscriptions  for 
the  separate  administration  funds  are  not  simply  deductions 
from  subscriptions  of  the  individuals  in  question  to  the  war 

139 


chest,  but  in  many  cases  represent  additional  subscriptions,  so 
that  the  raising  of  this  fund  in  itself  represents  a  net  addition 
to  the  amount  of  money  at  the  disposal  of  the  war  chest. 

Cities  which  follow  the  contrary  practice  and  meet  the  cost 
of  administration  out  of  the  fund  itself,  insist  that  it  is  the 
only  way  in  Avhich  they  can  really  play  fair  with  the  public. 
They  feel  that  the  idea  that  a  fund  of  som.e  millions  of  dollars 
can  be  administered  without  expense  is  one  which  ought  not  to 
be  encouraged.  They  insist  that  if  the  matter  is  faced  frankly 
and  openly  on  a  common-sense  basis  no  friction  will  develop. 
Admitting  that  a  valuable  advertising  feature  is  lost,  they  argue 
that  the  war  chest  has  sufficient  emotional  appeal  in  other  di- 
rections and  that  it  cannot  be  a  purely  monetary  affair,  but 
must  have  some  educational  value.  These  consideration  have  led 
many  cities  to  meet  the  cost  of  administration  out  of  the  fund. 
Looking  over  the  lists  of  those  cities  which  do  use  separate 
funds  and  those  which  do  not,  it  is  very  difficult  indeed  to  see 
that  one  is  predominantly  more  successful  than  the  other. 

A  few  cities  which  met  the  expenses  from  the  war  chest 
itself  felt  that  in  order  to  reassure  the  public  and  at  the  same 
time  ensure  cautious  and  economical  administration  on  the  part 
of  the  officers,  they  ought  to  set  a  maximum.  A  typical  illus- 
tration of  this  type  of  restriction  is  furnished  by  the  by-laws  of 
the  Citizens'  War  Fund  Association  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  which 
gives  power  to  the  board  of  trustees  as  follows : 

"If  necessary  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Association,  the  board 
may  appropriate  therefor  moneys  from  the  general  funds,  not  exceed- 
ing 1^/^%  of  the  total  amount  collected  in  any  one  year." 

Other  cities  have  adopted  1%  as  the  amount  which  the  com- 
mittee is  permitted  to  expend. 

There  is  no  particular  value  in  stating  the  amounts  which 
committees  have  used  for  expenses,  because  they  have  meaning 
only  when  put  in  relation  to  other  factors.  It  is  interesting  to 
notice,  however,  what  percentages  of  the  total  are  used  by  va- 
rious cities.  Burlington,  Iowa,  reports  its  cost  of  administra- 
tion at  11/2 %>  ^i^d  Janesville,  Wis.,  at  1%.  Kenosha,  Wis.,  re- 
ports 0.9%  for  cost  of  administration  and,  if  the  cost  of  the 
campaign  is  included  in  the  cost  of  administration,  about  1.5%. 
Meriden  estimates  that  the  campaign  alone  cost  about  1%,  the 
cost  of  collection  not  being  determined.  Michigan  City,  Ind., 
finds  that  the  cost  of  administration  amounts  to  2% ;  Nutley, 
N.  J.,  to  less  than  2%;  Plymouth,  Ind.,  much  less  than  1%; 
Sheboygan,  Wis.,  about  1% ;  York,  Pa.,  for  administration  costs, 
including  the  cost  of  the  drive,  0.75%.  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  which 
has  had  the  longest  experience  in  this  matter,  reports  that  at 
the  close  of  a  year's  operation  the  cost  of  administration  has 
been  less  than  1%  of  the  total  amount  collected  and  that  more 
than  half  of  that  amount  was  gained  by  the  war  chest  through 
interest  on  its  deposits. 

140 


On  the  whole  after  hearing  the  arguments  of  both  sides 
and  considering  the  evidence  which  has  been  sent  in,  and  which 
has  been  gathered  by  personal  observation,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  balance  of  the  argument  is  in  favor  of  meeting  the  expenses 
from  the  fund  itself,  that  from  the  standpoint  of  its  educative 
value  it  is  the  fair  and  wise  thing  to  do,  and  that  if  a  candid 
policy  is  pursued  the  monetary  loss  resulting  from  the  refusal 
of  prejudiced  persons  to  subscribe  is  so  slight  as  to  be  virtually 
negligible.  Although  many  cities  feel  that  the  adoption  of  a 
separate  administration  expense  fund  has  brought  them  large 
sums  of  money,  it  is  impossible  to  check  up  their  estimates. 
Cities  which  have  paid  the  expenses  out  of  the  fund  feel  that  it 
has  not  lost  them  any  money.  It  is  equally  impossible  to  check 
up  their  estimates.  The  whole  problem  therefore  must  remain 
in  last  analysis  a  matter  of  opinion. 

Budgets. 

The  problem  of  disbursing  the  funds  collected  for  the  war 
chest  has  unquestionably  been  the  most  difficult  and  delicate 
of  the  tasks  involved.  It  is  one,  moreover,  in  which  experience 
has  not  yet  given  so  sure  a  guide  as  in  many  other  of  the 
questions  which  the  war  chest  raises.  Most  war  chests  have 
not  been  long  enough  in  existence  to  furnish  a  real  test  of  the! 
value  of  their  disbursing  methods,  so  that  one  might  reach  a 
definite  conclusion  as  to  the  very  best  form. 

The  ideal  method  of  disbursing  money  from  a  war  chest 
is  to  follow  a  previously  prepared  budget.  The  budget  princi- 
ple is  distinctly  in  keeping  with  the  war  chest  idea.  It  is  also 
by  far  the  best  method  to  pursue  from  a  psychological  point  of 
view.  Unquestionably  it  gives  people  a  very  much  better  men- 
tal attitude  and  inspires  confidence  in  them  and  brings  home 
the  concrete  character  of  the  needs  if  a  budget  with  some  detail 
is  published. 

Furthermore  the  adoption  of  the  budget  system  avoids  any 
possibility  of  these  large  aggregations  of  money  being  regarded 
loy  some  relief  organizations  as  a  sort  of  grab-bag.  That  is  a 
problem  which  must  be  faced,  because  there  are  so  many  organ- 
izations in  the  field,  many  of  them  duplicative  and  some  un- 
worthy, that  care  must  be  exercised. 

Aside  from  the  budget  method  the  best  means  for  meeting 
this  situation  is  to  make  up  and  publish  an  accurate  list  of  all 
causes  which  are  to  receive  support  in  advance  of  the  time  of 
the  drive. 

Turning  to  a  study  of  war  chest  practice  in  this  matter 
it  becomes  evident  that  there  are  two  very  different  sorts  of 
so-called  ''budgets."  The  first  is  common  to  almost  all  kinds 
of  war  chests  and  amounts,  practically  speaking,  to  a  more  or 
less  careful  survey  of  the  presumptive  demands  upon  the  com- 

141 


munity  for  the  ensuing  year,  in  order  to  determine  what 
amount  is  to  be  raised  through  the  war  chest.  The  second  type, 
much  less  common,  is  an  itemized  statement  of  the  proposed  ex- 
penditures from  the  war  chest  after  the  money  has  been  raised. 

Taking  up  the  first  type  and  analyzing  the  illustrations 
of  it  so  far  as  possible,  it  becomes  evident  that  there  are  extra- 
ordinary differences  in  the  proportions  which  the  several  com- 
munities feel  ought  to  be  maintained  between  the  different  war 
auxiliary  organizations.  One  method  of  reaching  the  propor- 
tions is  to  take  as  the  basis  for  computation  the  amount  raised 
in  the  community  during  the  previous  year  and  then  to  assume 
that  ''the  demands  of  all  these  organizations  for  the  coming 
year  will  be  greatly  in  excess  of  last  year's  requirements  and  the 
amounts  provided  for  in  the  war  chest"  must  be  sufficient  to 
meet  these.  The  result  of  this  process  in  the  city  in  question 
was  that  the  Second  War  Fund  of  the  American  Red  Cross 
was  set  down  for  $10,000  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  $12,000,  though 
it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  they  planned  to  make  separate  pro- 
vision for  the  local  chapter  of  the  Red  Cross  in  the  sum  of 
$10,000,  so  that  the  appearance  of  giving  more  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
than  to  the  Red  Cross  is  not  wholly  accurate.  In  that  same  city 
the  K.  of  C.  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  were  figured  in  the  budget  in  the 
ratio  of  five  to  twelve,  which  proves  to  be  a  fairly  accurate 
forecast  of  the  actual  situation  as  it  appears  to  have  developed 
since.  Most  cities,  on  the  other  hand,  while  they  do  employ 
this  method  to  some  extent,  use  also  other  factors  in  attemping 
to  forecast  the  needs  of  the  war  chest.  Frequently  they  write 
to  the  various  organizations  to  which  they  propose  to  give  funds 
and  ask  for  a  preliminary  estimate  of  how  much  is  going  to 
be  required  in  the  next  financial  campaign  and  then  on  the 
basis  of  their  previous  quotas  in  relation  to  given  totals  they 
figure  out  the  probable  demand  which  will  be  made  upon  them. 

One  city  gives  the  Red  Cross  War  Fund  $7,000,  but  the 
local  Red  Cross  chapter  $50,000 — certainly  a  most  extraordi- 
nary ratio.  It  also  gives  the  Red  Cross  membership  $5,000, 
making  a  total  for  all  Red  Cross  purposes  of  $62,000.  That 
same  city  plans  to  subscribe  $5,000  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  K.  of  C.  are  to  be  supported  in  the  ratio 
of  five  to  four.  Another  city  planned  to  give  the  Red  Cross 
War  Fund  $12,500  and  its  local  chapter  $81,000.  Still  another 
instance  reveals  that  the  budget  committee  planned  that  the 
Red  Cross  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  should  get  roughly  equal  amounts,, 
the  Red  Cross  about  $240,000  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  approximately 
$250,000.  The  K.  of  C.  in  this  case  was  set  down  at  $50,000, 
in  a  ratio  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  about  one  to  five,  and  the 
Armenian  and  Syrian  Relief  at  the  same  amount.  Another 
illustration  of  the  results  reached  is  furnished  by  one  city  which 
provided  in  its  preliminary  estimates  $12,000  for  the  local  chap- 
ter of  the  Red  Cross,  $10,000  for  the  War  Fund,  and  $3,500 

142 


for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  which  is  a  ratio  wholly  out  of  relation  to 
the  actual  demands  which  will  be  made  upon  the  community 
as  we  now  see  them.  This  same  community  planned  to  give 
the  K.  of  C.  $1,000,  which  gave  that  organization  in  comparison 
with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  a  ratio  of  one  to  three  and  one-half. 

There  is  a  type  of  budget  which  stands  mid-way  between 
these  preliminary  estimates  and  the  other  type  which  will  be 
dealt  with  in  a  moment,  namely,  a  tentative  schedule  or  basis 
which  is  prepared  for  the  disbursement  committee,  but  which 
the  disbursement  committee  uses  only  for  its  own  information 
and  is  not  by  any  means  bound  to  follow.  One  such  budget 
gave  the  Pwed  Cross  seven  times  as  much  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and 
proposed  to  support  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  K.  of  C.  in  the  ratio  of 
five  to  four.  Another  was  expressed  in  percentages  and  called 
for  giving  the  Red  Cross  70%,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  15%,  and  the 
K.  of  C.  8%. 

It  must  be  repeated  and  emphasized  that  these  so-called 
^'budgets"  do  not  represent  either  actual  or  even  prospective 
disbursements  in  most  cases,  but  simply  preliminary  studies  to 
determine  the  goal  of  the  drive.  Many  of  the  apparent  absur- 
dities in  them  will,  in  consequence,  disappear  in  actual  disburse- 
ments when  the  demands  of  the  organizations  are  known  more 
accurately  than  they  could  be  known  at  the  time  when  the  war 
chests  were  put  in  operation,  and  reports  from  the  various 
cities  with  regard  to  their  productivity  make  it  perfectly  obvi- 
ous that  almost  all  of  them  have  sufficiently  large  contingent 
funds  and  over-subcriptions  so  that  they  will  not  fail  to  measure 
up  to  the  quotas  which  may  be  assigned  them.  In  many  cases 
the  funds  will  far  exceed  them. 

Even  if  one  assumed  contrary  to  fact  that  these  represent- 
ed actual  disbursements,  they  would  still  be  an  improvement  so 
far  as  results  are  concerned  over  the  drive  system.  Experience 
has  shown  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  find  out  how  much 
was  given  for  war  relief  last  year  in  cities  operating  under  the 
drive  system  and  so  to  determine  the  relative  amounts  which 
went  to  the  several  organizations.  Only  the  chairmen  of  the 
several  drives  had  accurate  information,  and  for  many  agencies 
which  solicited  only  by  mail  or  which  approached  relatively 
few  individuals,  there  are  usually  no  records  whatever.  When, 
however,  such  figures  were  available  in  anything  like  complete 
form  they  showed  in  many  cases  no  reasonable  proportions 
maintained  in  the  amounts  of  support  accorded  the  several 
agencies.  For  example,  in  many  communities  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
War  Fund  received  more  money  than  the  Red  Cross  War  Fund, 
though  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  called  for  only  about  one-third  as  much 
as  the  Red  Cross  and  raised  in  the  country  at  large  only  about 
one-half  as  much  as  the  Red  Cross. 

This  is  not  the  place,  nor  is  it  necessary,  to  go  into  a  de- 
tailed analysis  of  the  proportion  of  the  community  gift  which 

143 


went  to  the  several  agencies  under  the  drive  system.  It  is 
sufficient  to  remember  that  whatever  the  lack  of  uniformity 
and  the  occasional  absurdity  in  war  chests  cities,  the  results 
in  the  latter  appear  to  be  more  sane  and  more  nearly  in  accord 
with  the  needs  of  the  case  than  under  the  drive  system. 

Turning  now  to  the  budgets  which  purported  to  make  some- 
thing like  final  distribution  of  the  money,  it  appears  that  these 
are  of  two  sorts.  The  first  is  made  flexible  through  the  use 
of  over-subscriptions.  The  second  is  much  more  nearly  inflex- 
ible, its  only  elastic  feature  being  a  contingent  fund,  the  use  of 
which  is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  disbursement  committee. 

The  budget  of  the  Rochester  Patriotic  and  Community 
Fund,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  war  work,  reads  as  follows : 

"American  Red  Gross  Second  War  Fund, $750,000 

American   Red  Crosis  Local  Work, 500,000 

Young  Men's  Christian  Ass'n  War  Work, 600,000 

(%%  of  $80,000,000) 
Young  Women's   Christian  Ass'n  War  Work,....      60,000 

(%%   of  $8,000,000) 
Knights   of  Columbus  War  Work, 150,000 

(%%   of  $20,000,000 
Jewish  Relief  and  Wielfare  War  Work, 102,000 

(%%  of  $13,600,000) 
Contingent  Fund, 500,000 

Total, $2,662,000" 

The  contingent  fund  was  stated  to  include  "the  Salvation  Army, 
Polish  Relief,  Armenian  and  Syrian  Relief,  American  Fund  for 
French  Wounded,  Serbian  Aid  Fund,  Fatherless  Children  of 
France,  Scottish  Women's  Hospitals,  American  Women's  Hospi- 
tals in  Europe,  Permanent  Blind  Relief  Fund,  and  any  other 
war  fund  to  which  Rochester  makes  contribution."  The  bud- 
get further  provided  that  "in  any  over-subscription  of  the  total 
budget  presented  herewith  the  major  war  funds  will  participate 
as  follows: 

"1 — .The  American  Red  Cross  Second  War  Fund  will  get  prefer- 
ence up  to  $375,000  (50%  of  its  quota).  Such  participation  will  give 
that  fund  $1,125,000,  none  of  which  will  be  subject  to  refund  to  the 
local  chapter. 

2 — If  the  over-subscription  exceeds  $375,000,  the  other  war  funds^ — 
viz:  the  American  Red  Cross  (local  work),  Y.  M.  C.  A.  War  Work, 
Y.  W.  C'  A.  War  Work,  K.  of  C.  War  Work,  Jewish  Relief  Welfare 
War  Work,  and  the  contingent  fund — will  participate  pro  rata  until 
the  participation  of  each  amounts  to  50%. 

3 — In  any  over-subscription  in  excess  of  such  50%  all  the  major 
war  funds,  including  the  American  Red  Cross  Second  War  Fund,  will 
participate  pro  rata." 

144 


It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  the  demands  of  the  Fosdick  agencies 
were  figured  incorrectly,  because  of  the  sudden  and  large  in- 
creases in  their  amounts  which  have  since  taken  place.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  however,  none  of  the  organizations  will  suffer 
because  of  the  extremely  careful  way  in  which  provision  was 
made  for  over-subscription.  This  budget,  particularly  in  its 
relation  to  local  philanthropies  was  a  very  able  piece  of  work. 
It  indicates  the  opinion  of  the  committee  as  to  the  paramount 
importance  of  the  Red  Cross.  This  is  further  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  the  local  work  of  the  Red  Cross  is  given  an  amount 
which  means  that  the  gifts  for  the  Red  Cross  will  be,  roughly, 
twice  those  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is 
to  get  about  four  times  as  much  as  the  K.  of  C.  This  budget, 
however,  demonstrates  that  the  most  careful  investigation  by 
able  men,  under  the  conditions  which  existed  at  that  time,  it 
was  impossible  to  ascertain  even  approximately  the  amounts  of 
money  which  would  be  called  for  bv  the  various  organizations. 
The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  demand  has  since  increased  $20,000,000,  the 
K.  of  C.  has  more  than  doubled  its  call,  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has 
practically  doubled  its  demand. 

Detroit  also  built  a  budget  on  the  principle  of  giving  about 
11/2%  of  the  national  quota  instead  of  the  %%  which  Rochester 
planned  for.  Like  Rochester,  Detroit  made  provision  for  over- 
subscription. In  the  latter  city,  moreover,  the  1V2%  was  not 
so  rigidly  adhered  to,  for  more  than  that  amount  was  assigned 
to  the  Jewish  work  inasmuch  as  they  had  demonstrated  the  year 
before  that  they  could  raise  more  money  than  that  percentage 
of  the  total  would  have  brought.  On  the  other  hand,  less  than 
that  percentage  was  assigned  to  the  Armenian  and  Syrian  Re- 
lief because  the  organization  in  charge  of  that  agency  had  con- 
sistently failed  to  get  the  amount  of  money  which  it  asked  for. 

The  Detroit  war  funds  were  as  follows: 

American    Red    Cross, $3,000,000 

Young    Men's    Christian    Association, 1,500,000 

Knights   of  Columbus, 500,000 

Jewish    War   Sufferers, 325,000 

Armenian   and    Syrian   Relief, 200,000 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 150,000 

War  Camp  Community  Service, 112,500 

Salvation    Army, 35,000 

Jewish    Welfare    Board, 25,000 

Reserve    Fund, i 500,000 

Tota^, $6,347,500 

Detroit,  like  Rochester,  made  provision  for  pro  rata  participa- 
tion in  over-subscription  of  the  total  amount  called  for.  Inas- 
much as  the  $3,000,000  assigned  to  the  Red  Cross  was  to  be 

145 


divided  about  equally  between  the  War  Fund  and  the  local  chap- 
ter, the  ratios  of  this  budget  appear  to  be  fairly  closely  in 
accord  with  the  demands  made,  although  it  cannot  be  said  that 
they  are  accurate. 

A  more  inflexible  type  of  budget  is  found  in  Cleveland, 
which  did  not  adopt  the  principle  of  over-subscription  and  which 
therefore  cannot  make  with  the  same  ease  the  corrections  of 
the  errors  which  arise  of  necessity  from  the  inability  of  the 
budget  committee  to  find  out  accurately  what  the  demands  of 
the  various  organizations  are  to  be.  Cleveland's  budget  assign- 
ed the  Red  Cross  a  total  of  $2,500,000,  of  which  25%  was  to  go 
to  the  support  of  the  local  Red  Cross  for  which  no  separate  ap- 
propriation was  made.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  assigned  less  than 
half  the  Red  Cross  amount,  getting  $1,200,000.  The  Knights 
of  Columbus  was  assigned  one-fourth  the  amount  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  gift,  namely  $300,000.  There  was  in  addition  a  contin- 
gent fund  of  $650,000,  from  which  "worthy  and  approved  re- 
quirements for  unclassified  relief  funds  will  be  met  as  such 
needs  develop  during  the  balance  of  the  year."  In  fairness  to 
the  committee  in  charge  at  Cleveland,  it  ought  to  be  said  that 
in  addition  to  the  flexibility  introduced  by  the  contingent  fund, 
there  is  the  further  fact  that  the  duration  of  the  war  chest  is 
only  for  six  months,  which  makes  it  much  more  possible  in 
normal  circumstances  to  look  forward  and  accurately  gauge 
the  probable  demand. 

This  sketch  of  the  operation  of  budgets  under  the  various 
plans  which  have  been  attempted  must  not  lead  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  war  chest  is  absurd  in  the  matter.  It  simply 
reveals  how  difficult  the  situation  has  been  under  the  condition 
of  almost  complete  lack  of  control  of  war  relief  agencies,  even 
with  the  most  careful  investigation  to  get  an  accurate  forecast 
of  the  demands  which  are  to  be  made  upon  the  community. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  this  has  not  operated  in  the  direction  of 
cutting  down  the  support  of  the  war  agencies,  because  commu- 
nities have  recognized  the  fact  that  they  could  not  look  forward 
accurately  and  have  practically  always  set  their  goal  a  good 
deal  beyond  the  anticipated  demands  and  in  almost  every  in- 
stance have  secured  an  over-subscription  of  what  tbey  did  call 
for.  There  is  every  evidence  that  there  will  be  funds  enough 
and  that  even  in  the  cities  with  budgets  the  proportion  of  dis- 
tribution will  be  fair. 

Other  Methods  of  Disbursement. 

In  contrast  with  the  budget  system  of  disbursement  em- 
ployed by  a  few  cities,  there  is  the  plan  of  having  the  funds  of 
the  war  chest  paid  out  upon  the  vote  of  some  com.raittee. 

The  composition  of  this  committee  varies  widely  under  dif- 
ferent plans  adopted  by  the  several  cities.     Some  are  made  up 

146 


of  persons  appointed  by  the  Governor  as  a  county  committee 
or  war  board,  or  war  council,  or  however  it  may  be  known. 
The  most  common  plan  is  to  have  the  disbursement  committee, 
made  up  of  the  officials  variously  known  as  Board  of  Control, 
Board  of  Governors,  Board  of  Trustees,  or  Executive  Commit- 
tee. In  a  few  instances  the  disbursing  committee  is  made  up 
of  a  sub-committee  of  the  trustees,  governors,  etc. 

The  original  plan  developed  by  Syracuse  has  been  followed 
by  a  large  number  of  war  chests.  It  consists  of  a  committee 
independent  of  the  trustees,  save  for  two  ex-officio  members 
and  has  but  nine  members,  the  small  number  being  one  of  the 
essential  elements  of  the  plan.  The  success  of  this  method 
depends  upon  the  broadly  representative  character  of  the  per- 
sonnel and  upon  the  large-mindedness  of  the  m.en  and  women 
who  compose  the  disbursement  committee,  as  well  as  upon  their 
capacity  for  altering  their  opinions.  This  plan  has  worked  out 
extremely  well  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  because  in  that  city  the 
members  of  the  disbursement  committee  have  displayed  a  keen 
sense  of  their  responsibilities  and  have  pursued. a  policy  which 
has  constantly  broadened  as  the  war  has  gone  forward. 

A  second  type  of  disbursement  committee  follows  practical- 
ly the  same  lines  save  that  it  is  of  larger  size,  usually  about 
fifteen  to  twenty  members.  This  idea  is  somewhat  more  dif- 
ficult to  put  in  operation  because  of  the  fact  that  it  is  more 
difficult  to  get  that  many  people  together,  it  is  harder  to  get 
that  many  to  inform  themselves  thoroughly  and  reach  harmo- 
nious conclusions.  Nevertheless  where  discretion  has  been  used 
in  the  selection  of  members  it  has  succeeded  notably. 

Some  cities  have  felt  that  in  the  expenditure  of  funds  there 
ought  to  be  more  than  a  bare  majority  recorded  in  favor  of  a 
project,  and  have  made  provisions  by  which  an  extraordinary 
majority  is  required.  For  example,  Kenosha,  in  its  by-laws 
provides  that  "no  appropriations  of  any  donation  funds  shall 
be  made  without  the  two-thirds  vote  of  all  the  members  of 
the  committee."  The  fractions  used  vary  from  two-thirds  to 
four-fifths.  In  many  cases  where  an  extraordinary  majority 
is  required,  the  disbursement  committee  is  a  much  larger  body 
than  is  usual  in  most  cities,  running  up  occasionally  as  high 
as  forty  or  fifty  members.  The  answer  to  this  plan,  which  is 
made  by  those  who  believe  strongly  in  the  practice  inaugurated 
by  Syracuse,  is  that  a  committee  should  be  so  well  informed, 
so  open-minded  and  should  take  sufficient  time  so  that  the 
sums  needed  by  the  various  agencies  would  be  voted  with  sub- 
stantial unanimity.  That  is  to  say  they  believe  such  a  spirit 
should  be  created  in  the  disbursement  committee,  that  no  one 
would  press  for  action  until  persons  of  open  mind  and  candid 
disposition  could  reach  substantial  agreement. 

A  number  of  cities  have  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  rely, 
to  some  extent  at  least,  upon  a  preliminaiy  investigation  com- 

147 


mittee.  Akron,  Ohio,  for  example,  has  a  committee  to  which  is 
given  the  task  of  investigating  all  requests  for  funds.  After 
that  committee  has  reported,  a  budget  committee  determines 
whether  the  quota  which  has  been  assigned  is  proper.  The 
reports  of  these  two  committees  are  then  put  before  the  execu- 
tive committee  for  final  action.  This  is  distinctly  the  most 
elaborate  illustration  of  this  type  of  committee  that  has  been  re- 
ported. Occasionally  the  investigation  committee  is  not  per- 
manent. For  example,  in  Glens  Falls  a  new  committee  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  president  of  the  association  each  time  there  is 
an  application  for  funds  and,  after  looking  into  the  matter,  they 
report  back  to  the  board  of  directors  for  action. 

Nearly  all  war  chests  have  some  method  of  preliminary  in- 
vestigation, and  this  is  frequently  by  means  of  a  questionnaire 
which  is  sent  to  the  various  organizations  which  desire  funds. 
The  Kenosha  blank  has  been  used  by  a  number  of  cities  and 
reads : 

"The society  hereby  makes   application  to   the   Patriots 

Fund  Committee,  Kenosha  County,  for  the  sum  of  $ ,  as  the 

contributiorn    of    Kenosha    County,    Wisconsin,,    to    cover    the    period 
of. _ months,  for (main  purpose   of  org-anization). 

Organization. 

1 — Have  you  a  National  Organization.?   (Yes  or  No) 

2 — List  the  Officers  therof,  with  address _ „ 


3 — Have  you  a  Wisconsin  State  Organization?   (Yes  or  No) _ 

4 — List  the  Officers  thereof,  with  address „ 

5 — Has  this  application  for  funds  been  authorized  by  any  of  the  above 
officials ?   (Yes  or  No) When _ How 

Levy 

6 — Is  this   application  a  part  of   a   National   Campaign   for  funds? 

(Yes    or    No ) „ _ „ „ „. 

7 — Amount  to  be  raised  in  the  United  States  $ for. 

months'  period. 

8 — On  what  basis  was  the  quota  of  Kenosha  County  determined? 

9 — Are  equal  monthly  payment  satisfactory?   (Yes  or  No) 

10 — If  not,  state  reason „ _ 

Purpose. 

11 — State  specifically  how  money  is  to  be  spent  by  giving  budget,  or 
listing    large    items „ _ 

12 — Is  this  work  in  any  way  a  duplication  of  the  American  National 

Red  Cross ?    (Yes   or  No) _ _...._ „ 

Or  of  any  other  national  organization  now  in  existence?  (Yes  or 
No)' „ 

13 — Explain  as  fully  as  possible,  why  there  should  be  a  special  organ- 
ization for  this  work 

148 


14 — Has  this  camipaign  been  approved  by: 

a — American  National  Red  Cross?   (Yes  or  No) _ 

b — War   Department   Commission   on   Training   Camp   Activities? 

(Yes    or    No ) _ _ _ 

c — Wisconsin  State  Council  of  Defense?   (Yes  or  No) 

d — Other    Authorities? 

15 — ^Has  the  Wisconsin  State  Council  of  Defense  made  special  investi- 
gation of  this  appeal  for  funds  ?   (Yes  or  No) When. 

16 — Will    you    submit    reference? _ _...^ 

a — Bank   reference   _ _ _ 

b — Other  references  _„ „ _ 

17 — If  you  have  not  already  done  so,  please  send: 

a — Your   printed   literature,    telling    purposes    and   plans    already 

carried  out,  or  in  contemplation; _ 

b — Recent  printed  reports  of  income  and  expenditures; _ 

c — Any  other  data  that  will  assist  the  committee  in-  determining 
the   merits   of  the   cause _ _ _ _ 

Salem's  blank  is  as  follows: 

Name   of   National   Organization? _ _ _ „ 

Address, _ _ _ 

President,    „ _ ^ 

Secretary, _ 

Treasurer,    _ _ _ 

Name   of   Local   Branch, „ _ _ 

President,    _ _ _ _ „ 

Secretary,    „ _ 

Treasurer, 

National  amount  asked  for  year  1918,  $ _ _ _ _ - 

By  whom  is  this  amount  determined? ^. 

How  do  they  arrive  at  their  decision? _ „ _ 

National  amount  raised  for  year  1917  $ _ _ _ 

Amount  asked  of  Salem  for  year  1918  $ _ _ _ 

Amount  raised  in  Salem  for  the  year  1917  $ _ 

For  what  purpose  to  be  expended?   (Give  detail  and  budget) 

What  was  the  per  capita  response  in  other  communities  in  which  cam- 
paigns were  conducted? „ - 

Mention  several  communities,  if  possible — 

What  amount  is  now  asked  for  this  purpose  of  Beverly  $ , 

Lynn  $ ,  Newburyport  $ ,  Haverhill  $ ? 

If  award  is  made,  to  whom  should  check  be  made  payable? 


That  of  Columbus  follows: 

The  undersigned  organization  desires  to  be  a  recognized  War  Relief 
Agency    through    which    the    funds    of    the    Columbus    Community    War 

149 


Service  shall  be  distributed  and  presents  the  following  information  for  the 
consideration  of  the  Executive  Committee  in  determining  what  proportion 
of  its  funds  should  be  allotted  to  this  organization. 

1 — Name    of    Organization _ 

2 — National   Address Local   Address 

3 — When    organized Where. _ 

4 — Objects,    

5 — Whom  is  organization  trying  to  benefit? 

6 — What  is  your  plan  of  applying  these  benefits  or  accomplishing  your 

object? - - -.... 

7 — What  other  organizations  are  doing  similar  work,  in  whole  or  in 

part,  for  the  same  beneficiaries  ? 

8 — Names  and  addresses  of  principal  officers, _ 

President, 

Vice-President,  _ 

Secretary,    _ 

Treasurer,    - 

Executive    Officer, — _ - _ _ 

Chairman   Board  of  Directors, „ _ 

Names  of  Board  of  Directors  or  Controlling  Body, 

9 — Names  of  local  officers, - 

Names   of   local    board, 

10 — Explain  how  moneys  and  material  collected  are  transmitted  and 

distributed  to  those  for  whom  they  are  intended, _..... 

11 — Does  a  copy  of  last  annual  report  or  other  reports  with  itemized 
statemeiit  of  incomes  and  expenditures  for  past  fiscal  year  or  for 

some  other  period  accompany  this  application? 

If  not,  why  not  ? _ 

Period  covered  by  above  report, 

12 — When  does  your  fiscal  year  begin? 

13 — By  whom  are  your  accounts  audited? 

Date  of  last  audit? 

14 — By  whose  authorization  are  your  funds  distributed? 

15 — How  are  your  checks  signed  and  countersigned? _...„ 

16 — The  following  are  the  only  paid  workers  connected  with  the  organ- 
ization and  the  following  amounts  set  opposite  the  names  of  said 
workers  are  the  only  money  compensations  received  by  them  as 
salary,  commission  or  otherwise: 

Name Amount 

17 — What  facts  will  help  determine  the  proper  amount  for  Columbus 

to   contribute  to   this   organization? 

a — Total  amount  to  be  raised  in  nation, 

b — Basis  of  Franklin  County  quota,  if  allotments  are  made,  $ 

c — From  what  sources  have  you  derived  your  funds  heretofore? 

d — Name   and   address   of   person   in   your   organization   to   whom 

checks  should  be  made  payable, 

18 — W^i  herewith  submit: 

a — Copy  of  last  annual  report  with  itemized  statement  of  income 
and    expenditures, _ 

150 


b — Copy  of  last  auditor's  statement, 

c — Literature  showing  scope  of  work  and  such  other  information 
as  is  available  showing  to  what  war  needs  the  funds  are 
applied,    

d — Copy  of  budget  for  coming  period  this  application  covers, 

The  disbursement  committee  in  Youngstown  is  called  a 
distribution  committee.  It  determines  the  object  which  is  to 
receive  money  and  the  amount  which  should  be  appropriated. 
If  the  amount  is  less  than  .$10,000,  no  confirmation  of  its  action 
by  the  full  board  of  directors,  known  as  the  council,  is  necessary. 
If  it  is  more  than  $10,000,  on  the  other  hand,  the  appropriation 
must  be  confirmed  by  the  council.  In  either  case  the  action  of 
the  committee  is  published  ■  for  three  consecutive  days  in  two 
daily  papers,  after  which  seven  days  must  elapse  before  any 
payment  is  made,  presumably  to  give  opportunity  for  protest 
and  criticism. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  allows  disbursements  to  the  previously 
recognized  organizations  on  a  vote  of  a  simple  majority  of  trus- 
tees, but  for  any  organization  not  specifically  recognized  by  the 
war  chest  association  at  the  time  of  its  drive,  a  three-quarters 
vote  is  necessary.  The  idea  of  this,  of  course,  is  to  prevent  raids 
upon  the  fund,  and  its  wisdom  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that 
when  the  success  of  the  war  chest  was  noised  abroad,  all  sorts 
of  organizations  called  upon  it  for  money.  This  provision 
guaranteed  against  any  possibility  that  raids  upon  the  treasury 
would  be  successful. 

Various  committees  in  charge  of  disbursements  for  war 
chests  have  worked  out  tentative  bases  on  which  to  determine 
what  their  proper  quotas  should  be.  This  is  frequently  express- 
ed in  a  percentage  of  the  total  national  demand  for  which  they 
feel  themselves  fairly  responsible.  Thus,  for  example,  as  al- 
ready indicated,  Rochester  takes  three-quarters  per  cent,  of  the 
national  budget  and  Detroit  one  and  one-half  per  cent.  The 
difficulty  comes  from  the  fact  that  various  cities  take  different 
means  of  reaching  percentages.  Some  go  entirely  on  the  basis 
of  population,  which  is  obviously  improper.  Some  go  on  the 
basis  of  a  comparison  of  the  total  wealth  in  taxable  property, 
bank  deposits,  and  population  in  relation  to  the  whole  United 
States.  Some  derive  their  pei'centages  from  their  Liberty  Loan 
quotas  in  relation  to  the  total.  Still  others  determine  them  on 
the  basis  of  the  amount  of  money  raised  last  year  for  the  causes 
to  which  they  contributed  and  base  their  percentages  on  the 
relation  of  those  amounts  to  the  total  raised  in  the  country. 
Occasionally  this  work  is  undertaken  for  a  whole  state.  For 
example,  the  State  of  Washington,  through  its  council  of  de- 
fense, has  determined  that  it  will  not  "approve  a  quota  for  the 
state  in  excess  of  1%  of  the  total  quota  for  the  United  States." 

151 


This  is  based  "on  what  is  considered  an  equitable  ratio  of  popula- 
tion and  fixed  and  liquid  wealth  and  is  approximately  the  per- 
centage asked  of  this  state  in  the  First,  Second,  and  Third  Lib- 
erty Loan  campaigns,  and  in  the  First  and  Second  Red  Cross 
War  Fund  campaigns/'  There  is  also  a  county  quota  which  is 
fixed  by  the  state  council  of  defense  on  the  basis  of  school  pop- 
ulation, bank  deposits,  and  equalized  assessed  valuations  in 
ratio  to  the  corresponding  items  for  the  state  at  large.  Then 
each  county's  distribution  of  the  quota  is  determined  by  the' 
county  council  of  defense.  Thus  it  becomes  evident  that  states 
and  cities  have  made  serious  attempts  to  develop  percentages 
which  will  serve  as  some  more  or  less  accurate  test  of  the  fair- 
ness and  propriety  of  the  quotas  which  are  assigned  them  by 
various  organizations  and  have  also  attempted  to  introduce  an 
element  of  uniformity  among  these  quotas  which  is  wholly  lack- 
ing under  the  drive  system. 

As  to  the  personnel  of  these  various  committees,  almost 
always  an  attempt  is  made  to  make  them  representative  of  the 
different  classes  in  the  community,  it  being  wise  to  see  that  the 
manufacturers,  the  merchants,  the  laborers,  the  various  relig- 
ious sects,  and  the  women  are  all  properly  recognized.  Ordinar- 
ily officials  of  the  Red  Cross,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  other  beneficiary 
organizations  are  not  included  as  ex-officio  members,  although 
occasionally  they  are  so  included.  For  obvious  reasons  the 
members  of  the  disbursement  committee  are  nevertheless  per- 
sons vitally  interested  in  the  leading  agencies. 

This  has  been  criticised  sharply  in  some  quarters.  Mr. 
Wm.  J.  Norton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Detroit  Patriotic  Fund, 
says,  for  example,  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  place  the  control  of 
the  movement  outside  of  the  participating  agencies.  He  in- 
sists that  control  should  be  in  a  cooperative  group  representing 
the  chief  participants.  In  Detroit  the  Patriotic  Fund  is  govern- 
ed and  directed  by  a  group  of  people  who  do  represent  the  Red 
Cross,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Jewish  agencies,  the  Catholic  movements, 
and  the  Community  Union.  Thus  control  is  vested  in  the  most 
vitally  interested  persons. 

As  to  experience  with  disbursements,  there  has  been,  broad- 
ly speaking,  very  little  friction.  In  two  cities  there  was  con- 
siderable flurry  when  an  appropriation  was  made  by  the  war 
chest  to  the  Knights  of  Columbus.  Certain  persons  stirred  up 
trouble  and  there  were  threats  of  cancellation  of  subscriptions 
and  the  like.  In  one  of  these  cases,  without  any  pussy-footing 
whatever,  the  treasurer  made  a  frank  statement  in  the  papers. 
Most  of  the  newspapers  commented  editorially.  The  whole 
excitement  passed  in  a  day  or  two  and  no  harm  resulted.  In 
the  other  case  the  committee  refused  to  explain,  made  no  effort 
whatever  to  inform  the  public,  and  some  hard  feeling  was  en- 
gendered. This  indicates  that  this  whole  question  turns  on  the 
use  of  tact  and  good,  hard  common  sense. 

152 


In  another  city  an  appropriation  was  planned  to  furnish 
uniforms  for  the  Home  Guard.  Certain  elements  of  the  labor 
group  believed  that  the  Home  Guard  in  that  area  was  an  organi- 
zation which  was  designed  to  put  down  strikes  and  offered 
objection.  It  is  probable  too  that  some  other  elements  of  the 
public  felt  that  money  which  was  raised  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  to  be  given  to  the  soldiers  could  not  justifiably  be  spent 
for  that  purpose.  At  all  events  the  request  for  the  appropria- 
tion was  withdrawn.  In  this  case  the  disturbance  was  brief, 
and  on  the  whole  it  seems  to  m.e  a  not  unhealthy  thing,  because 
it  indicated  the  way  in  which  public  opinion  can  and  does  con- 
trol the  expenditure  of  funds  under  the  war  chest  plan,  and 
evidences  a  healthy  interest  in  the  disposition  of  its  money, 
whether  or  not  one  agrees  individually  with  opinion  in  any 
given  instance. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  disbursements,  however,  comes  from 
the  organizations  themselves  in  their  efforts  to  get  funds.  In- 
evitably the  disbursement  committee  feels  an  impulse  in  execu- 
ting its  trust  to  investigate  carefully.  Some  organizations  ob- 
ject to  being  investigated.  They  resent  w^hat  seems  to  them  an 
imputation  upon  the  propriety  of  their  demands.  Others  do  not 
like  to  have  the  cities  question  the  assigned  quotas.  Still  others 
do  not  like  to  have  the  cities  restrict  themselves  to  paying  only 
the  amount  of  the  assigned  quota.  There  is  perhaps  some  justi- 
fication for  some  of  this  irritation  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
organizations,  for  possibly  a  few  disbursement  committees  have 
been  a  trifle  officious.  But,  broadly  speaking,  this  is  a  diffi- 
culty which  has  arisen  from  the  chaotic  condition  of  the  whole 
war  relief  situation.  Betterment  rests  upon  the  introduction  of 
some  methods  of  control  and  upon  the  tact  and  good  sense  of 
local  communities  on  the  one  hand  and  of  the  representatives 
of  the  organizations  on  the  other. 

At  all  events  the  pi'oblem  of  making  disbursements  from 
the  war  chest  is  now  becoming  very  much  simpler  as  the  result 
of  a  number  of  developments.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  known 
now  that  a  more  active  supervision  of  the  financial  calls  of  the 
Fosdick  agencies  is  being  undertaken  at  Washington.  They 
are  henceforth  to  have  budgets  which  have  been  officially  ap- 
proved after  careful  scrutiny.  Moreover  the  grouping  of  these 
agencies  in  their  financial  efforts  involves  the  fixing  of  ratios 
to  be  preserved  among  them  in  a  more  or  less  official  manner. 
Thus  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  cities  to  make  up  their  minds 
individually  as  to  the  ratio  which  is  to  be  preserved,  but  under 
the  war  chest  plan  they  can  make  disbursements  to  them  in  the 
official  ratio. 

In  the  second  place,  the  accumulated  experience  of  cities 
is  becoming  available  and  has  larger  and  larger  value. 

In  the  third  place,  there  are  in  process  of  formation  various 
associations  of  war  chests,  and  there  has  now  been  organized 

153 


a  national  association  of  war  chests  which  is  planning  a  Nation- 
al Investigation  Bureau.  The  secretary  in  charge  is  Mr.  Barry 
C.  Smith  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  New  York. 
The  bureau  proposes  to  publish  an  approval  list  of  war  activi- 
ties after  having  secured  and  made  available  detailed  financial 
information.  This  will  make  it  possible  for  war  chests  to  de- 
termine with  reasonable  accuracy  the  proper  and  desirable 
amounts  which  they  should  appropriate  to  the  very  many  unof-" 
ficial  agencies,  which  nevertheless  have  value  and  which  should 
receive  some  support. 

While,  therefore,  the  ultimate  responsibility  for  disburse- 
ment must  still  rest  with  the  individual  community,  the  conclu- 
sion is  inescapable  that  the  knotty  problem  is  in  process  of  so- 
lution and  that  the  dangers  of  politics,  of  raids,  bickerings,  and 
dissatisfaction,  which  have  never  been  serious  in  practice,  are 
becoming  constantly  less. 


A  suggested  set  of  By-Laws  follow: 

Article  I — Name. 

The  name  of  this  association  shall  be  the War 

Chest  Association   (Citizens'  War  Fund  Association)   or   (War 
Work  Council). 

Article  II — Objects. 

The  objects  of  this  association  shall  be  to  provide  ways  and 

means  for  raising  funds  in  the  city  (county)  of 

and  to  that  end  to  solicit  and  receive  contributions  and  to  appor- 
tion and  disburse  the  same  as  follows : 

1 — To  the   following   organizations   upon   the   affirmative 
votes  of  a  majority  of  the  full  Board  of  Trustees : 
(a)   The  American  Red  Cross  and  its  local  chapters. 
(h)   The  organizations  operating  under  the  sanction  and 
control  of  the  War  and  Navy  Departments'  Com- 
missions on  Training  Camp  Activities, 
(c)   To  any  other  agency  which  has  direct  endorsement 
from  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
154 


2 — To  the  following  organizations  upon  the  affirmative 
votes  of  three-fourths  majority  of  the  full  Board  of 
Trustees : 

(a)   (Here  name  all  other  war 

(b)   auxiliary  agencies  that  are 

( c )   to  participate. ) 

3 — To  the  following  organizations  upon  the  affirmative 
votes  of  a  majority  of  the  full  Board  of  Trustees: 

(a)   To  support  the  activities  of  the  War  Bureau. 

(h)  To  finance  the  Liberty  Bond  Campaign  Committee 
or  other  committee  in  charge  of  the  work  for  the 
United  States  Government. 

(c)  For  the  support  of  the  Farm  Bureau. 

(d)  To  meet  the  necessary  expenses  of  this  association, 
provided  that  the  amounts  appropriated  for  that 
purpose  shall  not  exceed  2%  of  the  total  amount 
collected  in  any  one  year. 

Article  III — Membership. 

All  contributors  to  the  funds  of  this  association  who  are 
over  eighteen  years  of  age  shall  be  enrolled  as  full  members. 
Membership  shall  be  forfeited  by  any  person  who  is  delinquent 
more  than  thirty  days  in  a  payment  due  upon  his  subscription. 
The  privileges  of  membership  shall  be  restored  when  full  pay- 
ment of  the  delinquency  has  been  made. 

Every  member  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote  at  any  meeting 
of  this  association. 

Article  IV — Officers  and  their  Duties. 

The  officers  of  this  association  shall  be  a  President  and  a 
Vice-President,  chosen  each  year  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  from 
among  their  own  number;  a  Treasurer  and  a  Secretary,  who 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  (If  the  Board  of 
Trustees  is  made  large,  provision  should  be  incorporated  for  an 
Executive  Committee.) 

The  Trustees  shall  be  limited  in  number  to ,  of 

which  three  shall  be  appointed  annually  by  the  War  Bureau. 
The  remainder  shall  be  elected  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
association  and  shall  hold  office  for  one  year  and  until  their 
successors  have  been  elected.     The  elective  Trustees  for  the  first 

year  shall  be (Here  follow  names) 

155 


The  government  of  this  association  shall  be  vested  in  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  whose  duties  and  powers  shall  be  as  follows : 

(a)  To  make  any  and  all  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
conduct  and  control  of  the  Board  and  the  affairs  of  the 
association. 

(b)  To  make  any  and  all  rules  and  regulations  relative  to 
conducting  campaigns  for  soliciting  and  collecting  funds. 

(c)  To  determine  from  time  to  time  the  equitable  and 
proper  amount  of  funds  which  shall  be  apportioned  and 
disbursed,  and  when  and  in  what  manner  the  same 
shall  be  distributed. 

(d)  To  appoint  all  committees  and  determine  the  duties  of 
the  same. 

(e)  To  appoint  all  employees  and  determine  the  compensa- 
tion, if  any,  of  the  same. 

(/)   To  fill  all  vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  or  in  any 

committee  or  office. 
(g)   To  decide  all  questions  of  construction  of  the  by-laws. 

Such  decision  shall  be  final. 

A  majority  of  the  Trustees  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the 
transaction  of  business,  except  as  provided  in  Article  II. 

The  President,  or  in  his  absence  the  Vice-President,  shall 
preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  association.  The  President  shall 
be  a  member  ex-officio  of  all  committees. 

The  Treasurer  shall  be  charged  with  and  have  the  custody 
of  all  funds  of  the  association  and  shall  pay  out  the  same  upon 
the  direction  and  warrant  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  He  shall 
perform  all  the  duties  incident  to  his  office  as  he  may  be  directed 
by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  He  shall  be  required  to  give  a  bond 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duties  in  such  sum  and  with 
such  sureties  as  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  determine. 

The  Secretary  shall  issue  all  notices  required  to  be  given  to 
members  of  the  association  or  others.  He  shall  make  and  keep 
a  true  and  complete  record  of  all  meetings  of  the  association  and 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  he  shall  have  custody  of  the  records, 
by-laws  and  the  corporate  seal  and  shall  conduct  the  correspond- 
ence and  perform  all  such  duties  as  shall  be  required  by  the 
Board. 

Article  V — Meetings. 

The  annual  meeting  of  this  association  shall  be  held  on 

(date) in  each  year  at  such  hour  and  place  as  the 

156 


Trustees  may  determine.     A  notice  of  such  meetings  shall  be 

published  in newspapers  at  least  one  week  before  the 

date  of  such  meeting. 

Special  meetings  of  the  association  may  be  called  by  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  any  time,  and  notice 
thereof  shall  be  given  in  the  same  manner  as  for  the  annual 
meeting. 

Twenty-five  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the 
transaction  of  business  at  any  meeting. 

Meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  may  be  called  by  the 
President  or  by  members,  and  notice  of  such  meeting  shall  be 
given  by  a  written  or  printed  notice  mailed  at  least  two  days 
prior  to  the  date  set  for  such  meeting. 

Article  VI — Amendments. 

These  By-Laws  may  be  altered,  amended  or  repealed  at  any 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  notice  in  writing  of  such 
amendment  having  been  given  to  each  Trustee  at  least  two  days 
before  such  meeting. 

(These  suggested  By-Laws  have  been  compiled  after  study 
of  a  number  of  forms,  but  chiefly  from  those  of  Springfield, 
Mass.,  and  Lexington,  Mass.) 


157 


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